Hmmm.... >~>

I've decided to try and see if I can write a fifty thousand word novel this month~!

I watched participate in a Nanowrimo writing contest last year, and read some of her work. At the time I would say things like: "No way could I do that! You're awesome~! ^o^"

This year however... Though Nami's awesomeness remains very there, (Eheh... Hi Naaamiii~! ^~^) I've changed my mind about myself. I want to try it!

I haven't gotten very far yet, but I wanna put some up here and see if anyone likes it. ^~^ I'd appreciate any feedback anyone wants to offer~! ^~^

P.S.
I'm not sure if I should submit this as a deviation... Can anyone think of a reason not to? ^o^ Thank you~!


Here's a snippet of the begining:


Saturday September 1st 2009, 10:05am.
An extraordinarily obnoxious alarm clock blares into the quiet peace of a crisp autumn morning. The sound disturbs the owner of a large mansion in the center of vast grounds, all of which are completely empty aside from himself, his horses and the small staff he employs for upkeep. Guests to this isolated beauty are rare, and all of them want the same thing. His name is Dante Tolovar.

They know only what they have heard in whispers, he is rumored to have lived in this very house for over two hundred years. There are many other rumors about him as well. Many and much less innocent, but I know the truth.

He is retired now, and he is easily defeated by the simplest of things every time. For instance, an alarm before noon.


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"Urmph... Oh, curse this sadistic machine!"

Dante slapped his hand over the surface of the nightstand beside his bed, searching for the offending clock without success.

"I distinctly remember telling James I didn't want another wake up call until Halloween!" He pulled himself up on one elbow and pushed curtains of black hair out of his eyes to scan the room.

The alarm clock was on the carpet in front of the door.

"What??? Oh, Mrmph!" He flopped back down and smushed his face into the pillows. "Thith if nop haffenig!" Reluctantly he tugged himself and the comfortable blankets off the bed into a heap on the floor.
"What did I do to deserve this? I pay him well, he has every holiday off!" Dante began to skootch across the carpet, holding the blanket and sheets on with one hand.

"It's not as if I can pay for his dental or health insurance! ...Maybe he thinks it would have been polite to offer, but it wouldn’t do either of us any good!" He slumped onto his stomach in front of the clock and reached out to silence it.

"Farewell, you disreputable---!"
The solid wooden door flew open and cracked loudly against his face.
"AURGH! James!! I think you've broken my skull!!!" He rolled away from the door, clutching his forehead.

James, the butler, stood in the doorway raising an eyebrow as looked down on the state of his employer.
"I doubt that very much, sir, I think I would need a granite sledge hammer to so much as fracture a skull so thick as yours."

Dante glared up at James over his hand, which was clutching his bruised nose. James didn't seem to notice, he bent down and unplugged the still buzzing alarm clock and set in on the table beside the door.

"It's time for breakfast, sir, and this morning I have something important to discuss with you."

Dante sighed and stood up, still clutching the bedding around him.
"What on earth could ever be important enough for you to blatantly ignore my request that you throw out that blasted alarm??"
He frowned pathetically and rubbed his facial injuries. James smiled pleasantly. "Get dressed and meet me in the dining hall. We're having Belgian waffles, your favorite." The butler turned and stepped into the hall, shutting the door with a snap behind him.

Dante stood, blinking his wide blue eyes, with his hand over the lower half of his face. His pity sucking performance interrupted. "Why is he being so stiff? I didn't hit him with any doors lately..." His eyes fell to the now unprotected clock, and narrowed. "I'll have out with you once and for all!" He seized the clock and strode across the room to the window, yanked it up halfway and threw the clock into the nearest paddock.

"Ha ha! Let’s see you recover from being trampled!!" He smiled, satisfied with his enemy's defeat, and turned to drop the blanket and sheets in a pile on the bed with a sigh. "Now, what does one wear to a forced breakfast meeting with the butler?"


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"I want the wind to carry me away, Somewhere there are brighter days..."



"Ok, here we go. Deep breathe aaand... Hello, my name is Kaori Hanami. I applied for the designer position you advertised last week..."

Kaori frowned at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
"Ugh, I sound like a ninth grader at her first job! I've been a stylist, a designer, a teacher and even a secretary! Why do I always get so nervous?!?" She folded her arms and blew a flyaway out of her face.

"I can do anything they want, I've got nothing to worry about."
She straightened her shoulders, slung on her purse and arranged her face into a confidant smile. "That's right, I can catch any curve they throw!"

She turned on her heel and strode to the restroom door. As her fingers closed over the handle, a loud ring tone shattered her train of positive thought.

"Whoa! What the?? I thought I turned this thing off!"
She tugged her cell phone out of her purse.

"Hello?"

"Kaori, I'm glad I caught you."

"Uncle James? What is it?? I'm waiting for an interview with Andrew Wright!!"

"I'm sorry to hear you haven't had any success in your job hunt lately."

"I might have success today if I'm not on the phone when he's ready to see me!" She hissed under her breath, making her way back to a seat in the lobby she'd been occupying for a half an hour.

"Yes... well, just in case that doesn't work out, I have an opportunity I thought you'd be interested in. Do you have a pen?"

"I don't need a pen, this is a cell phone. The number you called me with will be in the log." She sighed as she took her seat.

"No, I don't think so dear."

Kaori made a face and rifled through her purse for a pad and pen. Why did he always have to be so cryptic? She frowned; there were three pens and no paper. Not even a receipt.

And here she'd thought cleaning out her purse before an interview would be a good idea. Hmm, an oil based pen... she could just keep one hand down...

"Alright, I have a pen." She turned her left palm up to write on it.

"Wonderful, now the house number here is..."

She scribbled the numbers hastily onto her hand; the doors across the lobby were opening.

"Ok, talk to you later Uncle!"

"See you soon dear."

She snapped the phone shut and crammed it into her purse just in time. Andrew Wright was shaking hands with a group of business men expensive suits. He was younger, more handsome than she'd realized.

Wonderful, as if she needed another reason to be nervous.

He turned to his secretary, who pointed in Kaori's direction somewhat reluctantly. Kaori wondered if she'd been hoping his meeting would keep her waiting until she gave up and left without seeing him.

His face brightened when he saw her, and he motioned for her to follow him back into the office. She jumped to her feet and hurried to comply.

The room was much larger than its single door gave away, a high ceiling and large glass windows on two sides. A set of stiff looking chairs were arranged in a semi circle around a small glass topped coffee table. All of this was in front of a large desk covered in stacks of paper, a Laptop, and various coffee cups.

"Take a seat." Andrew gestured to the stiff chairs, smiling as if they should be appealing. Perhaps to people who are concerned about wrinkling their suits, Kaori reasoned. It wouldn't do any good to start thinking negatively about him before they'd even spoken properly.

"Thank you." She sat, and tried to look comfortable, while Andrew pulled her resume from the filing cabinet behind his desk.

"Hm, Kaori? Is that correct?" He raised an eyebrow and flipped through several pages without really looking at them, then set the paperwork down to look her over.

"Oh, yes. That's me."

Ninth grader...

He seemed amused be her awkwardness, but she thought he might be the kind of man who always looks like he's amused.

"Tell me, what got you interested in working for me?" He tilted his head sideways and smiled. He seemed to think he knew the answer already, but didn't expect her tell the truth.

She tried not to let that bother her, or at least not to show it.
"Well, I really enjoy the designs in your magazine, and I would love the chance to contribute to your future success." Kaori smiled, she was an adult again.

He looked a little surprised.
"Oh, you, you want to be a designer?" His eyebrows rose.

"Actually I am already; it's all in my resume." She forced herself to keep smiling. This interview was headed down hill fast.

"Oh, you see I thought you were applying for..." He picked up her resume to look it over more carefully. "...for a different position."

What, your coffee girl?

She fought the urge to grind her teeth and shook her head when he looked up again. "I dropped off a portfolio with my resume last week, didn't they come together?"

"No, I don't seem to have a portfolio anywhere..." He glanced around the room and shifted few stacks of paper on his desk. Then a bright idea seemed to strike him.

"Perhaps we could meet for dinner sometime, and you could bring you work?" He beamed and got up to walk toward her. Taking a business card from his inside jacket pocket as he approached, and holding it out to her.

"Oh, sure..." She took the card and reached into her purse for a silver PDA. "When are you available?" She glanced up at him expectantly.

"Well, let’s see... I've got a million things to do the week as I'm sure you can understand.
Oh, how about next Saturday?" He was beaming again.

"Alright then..." She tapped the meeting into her schedule.

"Wonderful." He quickly wrote the same meeting on the back of one of his own cards. "I look forward to seeing you again Miss Hanami."
He held out his hand.

"Thank you for your time Mr. Wright." She was at a loss for anything else to say. Not because he kept flashing his smile like he expected her to go blind, but because she'd spent all week preparing for this interview, and in a few minutes all her efforts had gone to waste.

As she left the office, the receptionist smiled triumphantly and wished her a good afternoon. She felt tempted to blame the women for her portfolio's disappearance, but decided not to waste anymore time thinking about it.

Her thoughts backtracked over the time she'd spent in this building, which seemed much less now than it had before. What was it her Uncle wanted? She dialed the slightly smudged number on her hand and waited.

"Good afternoon, may I help you?" Her Uncle's voice answered.

"Hi Uncle James, it's me."

"Oh, hello my dear! Interview over already?"

"My portfolio got misplaced somehow, so we didn't get anywhere today. He asked me to have dinner with him next week so I can bring another one."

"Yes, I see. Well, are you free for the day then?"

"Yeah..."

"Good. Let’s both get to a cafe and we'll talk over the opportunity I mentioned."

Kaori smiled.
"Ok, I could use a Mint Mocha Freeze."



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Music that helped me get inspired! :
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