Blood Red Sky

Chapter 1

Taylor sits at her coffee table in the shop and drink her tea. She has put only a little cream and honey in it and stirs it absentmindedly. She stares at her laptop screen, her face blank and sad. 

The day was awful, wet, iron-grey, and full of moody locals. Apparently the small town of Passing, Wisconsin didn't usually come by bad weather and when they did, they didn't hide their solemn attitudes. Taylor decided she couldn't stay cooped up in her bed and breakfast and now that she was here, even if the weather was shit.

Taylor sighs, attempting to write a novel is hard work.  She didn't have an idea in her head of where to begin. Her imagination swam and swam with ideas but she couldn't get them out. 

Thats whey she wasn't a college student anymore. Thats why she found herself in Passing, Wisconsin, alone accept her laptop. She was renting a tiny room in a tiny bed and breakfast from Earl and Nora Westington whom she had never met until this morning. They told her if she goes into to town keep to herself. Small towns have a reputation for being extra friendly to outsiders, but this one could care less. Passing got busy during the summer, when family were on there was to their vacation homes. Wisconsin got busy in the winter because of hunting season but the old, green, expansive forests that bordered Passing seemed to always be avoid. The Passing Forest was one of the largest and most healthy areas of the Midwest, but no one has reported of every entering and returning. It is old Native land, full of wildlife and dirt as old as time. It is out of respect and fear that locals and tourists alike stick to their small, explored lands. Old ecology would say it was the wolves that kept the humans out. But no one has seen any in Passing, Wisconsin for generations, only claimed to have heard the howling, far away, distant like the highway to the south, and haunting like the ghost of a forgotten people. 

Taylor thought it very odd when Nora Westington pulled her aside as she was putting on her raincoat to leave. Nora, still in her nightgown even though it was half past ten, grabbed Taylor's hand and spoke.

"Passing sees many a strange face. It is best to ignore those who look like they don't belong." Nora seemed to be urging Taylor. But, Taylor couldn't get past her creepy tone and how frail the woman's hand felt against her young one. 

"I'll be sure to lay low." Taylor says, assuming this is what Nora wanted.

"I just want you to appreciate Passing for what it is, a no-where-place for no-where-folks to stay without any questions."

Taylor was sure she no longer understood the woman. "I'll be back for dinner tonight. Have a good day." She opened the door and wrapped her scarf around her face, tight. 

"I hope it is an inspiration." Nora called out weakly while the door was being closed. Taylor walked down the steps and to the road some distance away. She began her walk into town on the side-walk-less, aged streets of Passing, Wisconsin and thought about her novel and how she was going to finally write it.