WeWriWa—Forced to bring a guest

Welcome back to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday, weekly Sunday hops where writers share 8–10 sentences from a book or WIP. The rules have now been relaxed to allow a few more sentences if merited, so long as they’re clearly indicated, to avoid the creative punctuation many of us have used to stay within the limit.

I’m now sharing snippets from the book formerly known as The Very Next, now entitled Movements in the Symphony of 1939. It was released in e-book format on March second, with a paperback edition to follow within a few months. The paperback edition will have a different cover.

Best friends Cinnimin and Sparky (real name Katherine) were on their way to their friend Quintina’s birthday party when new houseguest Urma Smart demanded they take her daughter Samantha. Urma began very angry when Cinni compared Sam’s very old-fashioned clothes to those of the Amish. In Urma’s mind, the Amish are heretics.

Last week, when I forgot to sign up, Urma’s husband Mortez attempted to come to Cinni’s defense and was quickly cowed into submission by Urma. Though Mortez may be henpecked, he’s not as passive and stupid as he might seem.

“Well, are you taking Samantha or not?” Urma asked, in the same acid-edged voice. “We don’t have all day to wait!”

Cinni shrugged. “Sure, she can tag along, but don’t expect her to be instantly popular. She has to prove herself before I’ll admit her to our popularity ranks. If she ain’t got what it takes, she’ll have to be a Nobody. Sam, do you have anything to bring to Tina? It’s pretty rude to come empty-handed to a birthday party.”

“I didn’t know there was a birthday party today,” Sam said. “I’d be insulted if I was the birthday girl and a surprise guest got me something cheap and last-minute.”

The ten lines end here. A few more to complete the section follow.

“Enough stalling!” Urma shouted. “Just go to the party! Samantha can become friends with your friends later, but for now, she just needs to get introduced to them.”