#broken ice

i broke the water

Ice Out - William H. Hays , n/d.

American, b. 1956 -

Whoops, should probably do this before it gets any closer to Halloween. Interestingly, and unusually, my reading seems to have slowed down a little in terms of sheer number of books after the summer, but I think this is partly because 1) the fall has still been pretty busy (still plenty of work, though less than during summer camp season, with added school stuff) and 2) I've had the mental energy to read some different, longer books instead of lots of mindless, quick murder mysteries. (Still plenty of mysteries, though). Here's the books from September that I think are worth reading:

The Curse of Chalion (Lois McMaster Bujold): Had an odd experience reading this book: I didn't exactly know what was going to happen, but after I hit some fairly major plot points, I would think, "Oh yeah, that's right," as if I'd been expecting them. (There's some neat twists in this book! I was not expecting them all!) Anyway, I do read a lot and sometimes forget what I've read, so it's possible I read this a while in the past (sometime before I started tracking my reads, 3 years ago) and then forgot most of it. I don't plan to forget it this time, because I really enjoyed the experience! Good writing, and I do like a main character who's already seen a lot of shit and would ideally like to just live a quiet life (but also sighs and takes responsibility for things pretty regularly). Sad to see that the sequel is not also focused on Caz. (I'll read it someday anyway, because again, good writing!) (I'm not sure the etiquette on this, but to give credit where due: I had a few reasons to check this book out of the library, but one was that I've seen @wearethekat rec it convincingly multiple times!)

Broken Ice (Matt Goldman): OK, so this is actually book 2 in the Nils Shapiro mystery series (I read book 1 in August), so I recommend starting with book 1, but I'm more recommending the series than any individual book. Each mystery is interesting and original, but none of them stands out to me in particular; what I like is that the main character could very easily be a loner, sad, possibly alcoholic, slightly sexist private detective, but instead he builds up some healthy relationships over the series (romantic and other), and generally is someone I think I would get along with. There are 4 books so far, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a book 5 someday but I see nothing online promoting one.

Inktober day 20: tread

(Note: if you want to implement your own Xenomorph OC into this, then please do so, I don’t mind.)

Y/N- Your Name

Y/C- Your clothes

It was a cold morning where you lived, which was a remote location, you lived by yourself, no one around for miles/kilometers. You made the best of living alone, even though you'd give anything to have some else to spend time with. You grabbed your coat, boots, ice skates, hat, and scarf, and headed out the door. You headed for the frozen lake in front of your home, It was your favorite place to unwind. You stepped onto the ice and skated gently across the ice. You smiled gently as you moved around the ice. However, you suddenly heard an uninviting noise, crack you looked down and saw cracks forming below you. You try to move out of the way but the crack broke open and you fall under the ice. You could only get a short scream out before you entered the freezing water. You panicked as you tried to return to the surface, but you only sunk faster and faster. You felt the air escaping your lungs and began to scream underwater. Suddenly, something slender and black entered the water. It had a long dome head, sharp teeth, tubes on its back. You were grabbed by the creature and quickly broke the surface. You coughed up water and gasped for air. You shivered from the cold air. You looked up at your savior, you got a slight look at it, erm, him, while underwater, but now you had a clear look at him. He was hunched over and checking on you. Taking a better look, you realized it was a Xenomorph, you bit your lip, unsure of what to feel, He leaned into your face, chipping and cooing, he tilted his head.

“A-are you okay young lady?” He asked, using telepathy to speak. You realized then and there, he wasn’t there to kill you or turn you into a host, but he was there to rescue from drowning. You nodded shakily. The Xenomorph scooped up into his arms and carried you back to your house. “My name’s Nimf, what’s yours?” Nimf asked you

“I’m, Y/N thank you Nimf.” You replied, your voice shaky, but the gratitude was clear as can be. Nimf entered your home and set you down on the couch. He walked around observing your home. You noticed Nimf was shivering a little bit himself. You took off your wet winter attire, leaving your Y/C. You wrapped your arms around yourself and shivered with slight chattering. You soon felt something soft and warm wrap around. Nimf wrapped you up in a blanket. Nimf laid down on the couch next to you and curled up like a cat, still shivering. You got up and walked out of the living room, you opened a closet door and pulled out a large weighed blanket. You walked back into the living room, Nimf looking up at you. Chipping in curiosity.

“Y/N?” Was all he asked. You dropped the blanket Nimf had given to you, causing you to shiver once more. You walked over and sat down next to Nimf and wrapped both him and you in the blanket. Nimf gained a slight green blush on his face, which made you giggle as you slightly blushed as well.