Lost in the Hotel - Part 2

Friday Felicitations,  Faithful Friday Fiction Fans!
 (Can you think of any more F words to include in that greeting? :) )

It's been another busy writing week. I'm loving this newly discovered ability to write more in a week than usual and the ability to keep the momentum going! I need to write 1,000 words today and I'll have written 8k every week this month! I'd say that was pretty good since I've NEVER written that much in one month! I'm planning on keeping my goal at 5k a week, at least for now, because conference season is coming up which means business. but I certainly won't be trying to only write 5k. I'd love to write 8k a week next month. Or 9k or more. :)

I've been working on finishing up some short (or longer) stories to post while I write TCR-5. I've got a good amount written now so . . . I'm hoping to start work on TCR-5 on Monday! I'd covet your prayers as I write. I've got so many ideas for these books that I'm going to have to do some figuring and decide what stories/events I can include in this book and what ones I should save for another one.

Update–I thought you might like to know that yesterday I approved the draft cover for "Gift from the Storm" (Dr. Morgan). Hopefully next Friday you can all see a preview of the front cover. :) Would you like that? I'm still hoping to have this finished by the beginning of April. We'll see how quickly my test readers can get it read and their reviews to me and then how quickly I can get the layout done and all the other little things. But at least you all don't have to wait for an illustrator. :)

Progress is being made on TCR-1 audio. I've approved the first 15 minutes and my producer said she thought she'd be able to move pretty quickly with the rest of it. I'll keep you updated.

But now, back the the final part of the hotel story. And remember, this really happened. The phone conversation you will read is what really took place though maybe not exactly word for word. Enjoy! And don't laugh too hard. :)

Lost in the Hotel

Part 2

    Thoughts of all the mystery books she had read came flooding through her mind and her vivid imagination pictured escaped convicts behind the next water heater, thieves creeping up behind her, or stumbling suddenly upon a secret gathering of men in the underworld of crime. No! She was getting carried away. “Perhaps everyone slept in this morning,” she told herself half aloud.
    On she went, trying to find a way out. Even had she wanted to, she knew she would never be able to find the door where she had entered. “I’m lost,” she told herself after wandering around for what felt like hours. “I’m really lost.”
    Finally, after more wanderings among water heaters and other strange things, Mrs. Blossom came to the largest laundry room she had ever seen. “Why, I could wash every article of clothing and bedding and rugs I own all at one time,” she chuckled gleefully, forgetting the horrors of the past. “I should have brought my laundry.”
    Then she remembered that she needed to get out of the basement.
    There seemed to be almost a labyrinth of washing machines and dryers, and before Mrs. Blossom was able to find her way out, her cell phone rang.
    A quick glance at the ID told her it was her husband. Finally someone who could help her!
    “Hello, Jerry?”
    The voice on the other end was deep and casual but it sounded so safe. “Gen, where are you?”
    “I don’t know. I’m lost somewhere in the hotel”
    “Where?”
    Mrs. Blossom frowned, “I think I’m in the basement, but I can’t get out!”
    “Well, I’m going to go eat breakfast.”
    “But, Jerry!” Mrs. Blossom wailed, “I’m lost!”
    There was a grunt on the other end. “I’m going to eat.”
    “Jerry! I really am lost!”
    Another grunt was the sympathizing answer, and then Mr. Blossom said, “You can find me at breakfast, I’m not waiting.”
    “But—“
    The line went dead and Mrs. Blossom stared down at her phone. “Oh, dear!” she sighed. Her husband wasn’t going to be any help. And it didn’t look like anyone else was going to come to her aid either. She would just have to find her way out “or die of starvation,” she reflected sadly, hearing a rumble in her stomach.
    Starting forward once again, Mrs. Blossom was delighted to discover an elevator. “At last, I can get out of this place!”
    There was a sign on it which said, “Employees Only” but Mrs. Blossom sniffed. “Why would you put a sign like that on an elevator down here? As if any normal person would want to explore your hidden rooms.”
    Pushing the button, she waited with a growing feeling of hunger.
    Ding
    The door opened and Mrs. Blossom heaved a sigh of relief as she stepped inside. She pressed the button for the first floor, the door closed, and she felt the familiar sensation of half suppressed movement.
    Ding
    When the door opened, she stepped eagerly into the hall. Only, this wasn’t a familiar hall. Where was she? No one was to be seen and she couldn’t get back on the elevator because the door had just closed and a special key was needed to operate it from this floo. “Oh, dear! she groaned, realizing that the elevator must have opened the back door instead of the front one.
    “I never thought of a different door opening,” she sighed. “Now what do I do?”
    She thought of calling her husband, but knew she’d get no more help than before. “If I knew the number for the front desk I’d call that and have them come find me. But I don’t know it.”
    The tantalizing smell of cooking bacon, sausages, omelets and waffles drifted down the hallway. Mrs. Blossom’s stomach rumbled louder.
    “There has to be a way out of here,” she muttered, growing hungrier and more frustrated by this hotel experience each minute. “I’ll just find it!”
    Attracted by the mouthwatering smells, she started down the corridor. The noise of clanking dishes was soon heard, along with the muffled sound of  voices.
    “Well, at least I can ask someone how to get out.” She continued walking. “I am getting my walk in. But it sure isn’t the scenery or fresh air I had envisioned. This is the most ridiculous hotel I’ve ever been in!” she fumed. “Who ever heard of stairway doors setting off alarms, or of no one in the laundry room, or elevators that don’t open into the right hallway?”
    At last a door was reached and, opening it, Mrs. Blossom found herself in the kitchen. No one seemed to notice her standing there uncertainly and she hated to interrupt anyone as they all looked so busy. Perhaps . . . ah, wasn’t that a door? It looked like it might lead to freedom!
    Without giving herself time to reconsider, Gen Blossom started across the kitchen, her eyes on the new door ahead. Then she was there. Where would it lead? Placing her hand on the cool metal surface, she took a deep breath and pushed.
    Mrs. Blossom’s eyes lit up and she heaved a great sigh of relief. She was out! This was the dining area and there, right before her, was her husband waiting in line for an omelet and a waffle.
    “Where did you come from?” Mr. Blossom asked her in a gruff but surprised manner.
    Stepping in line beside him, Mrs. Blossom replied, “I told you, I was lost!” She wasn’t sure he believed her, but he did look from her to the door and then back again before grunting, “Huh.”
    Mrs. Blossom has never again had the courage to venture down the stairway of a fancy hotel in search of an early morning walk. She has had her fill of shadowy basements, gurgling water pipes, labyrinth laundry rooms and secret hallways. She stays in the safe and known realms open for guests and never ventures off on explorations alone.

So, what did you think?

Did it make you want to wander alone in large hotels?

What would you have done in Mrs. Blossom's place?

Are you interested in seeing the cover for the new book?