Beginnings
Some of my favourite beginnings…
“All children, except one, grow up.” – Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie
“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, live twelve little girls in two straight lines.” – Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans
‘When you wish that a Saturday was actually a Monday, you know there is something seriously wrong.’ – Boy in the Tower, Polly Ho-Yen
All of these opening lines are like a spell that hook you, the reader, into the pages of the book.
Below is a beginning piece I’ve written.
Writing a beginning
The beat of a soft drumming hid in the forest. The steady rhythm had a calming nature that disguised the beings that followed it.
But it wasn’t the drums that Hazel heard first. It was the piercing screams that woke her from her sleep. The painful sound of them hauled her eyes open.
Her ears tuned in to the panic around but the dark was engulfing the scene. Her eyes were still not as alert as her ears.
Something cold and wispy brushed her back and she whipped round in response. Her pulse raced under her skin and each hair prickled across the surface of her body. She froze and held her breath, giving all her attention to her eyes, trying to push through the dark and spot the intruder that had come through the trees.
There was no one there. No one visible at least.
Within minutes, the night’s darkness was pushed back by the sudden lighting of the village torches which mimicked the weak light of dawn. Turning away from the invisible touch, Hazel turned to the light and lowered herself to a crouch on sleeping bag trying to disappear into the ground.
How could they have gotten in unnoticed?
Where were the village’s guards?
The drums had never been missed before.
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