A Gift From Me To You

Welcome back, Little Leaves!🍂🤍

First things first, WE REACHED 1,000 VIEWS!!

I can't believe I'm sitting here writing about this right now. When I first started Autumn's open Pages, I wasn't sure how many people would actually support me and CONTINUE supporting me throughout the last few months.

Now here I am, with over 300 consistent Little Leaves! I love you guys!

That might not seem like a huge number to some people, but to me, it's everything! So, thank you! You guys actually take time out of your day to read little pieces of my life. A lot of you have been here since the beginning and a lot are also newer, every single one of you mean so much to me.

Now, about that gift...

I've been working on a short story called Landfall, which will serve as a prequel to Dead on the Gulf. Both stories are under the BOOKS tab and UPCOMING.

Both stories take place in Galveston, Texas, where a devastating hurricane brings more than just destruction to the island...

In Landfall, you'll meet Noah, a man who finds himself stuck at work as the powerful hurricane approaches Galveston. With the water rapidly deteriorating, and his wife, Emma, waiting for him at home, Noah quickly realizes that getting home to her is not going to be simple.

And unfortunately for Noah, the hurricane is only the beginning.

I've been keeping a lot of this story to myself while working on it, only because I wanted to keep it suspenseful. I figured that reaching 1,000 views would be the perfect time to share a sneak peek with you all!

AN EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK AT LANDFALL:

I turned onto the main road and immediately regretted it.

Cars were backed up ahead of me. Red brake lights reflected across the flooded street, stretching into the distance through sheets of rain.

“Come on, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.

I slowed behind a sedan and leaned forward, trying to see past it.

Nothing. Just an endless line of taillights disappearing into the rain.

I leaned back in my seat, letting out a deep groan as I realized I was probably going to be stuck here for a while. I looked out the window at the seawall, watching the waves crash onto the road. The beach below had completely disappeared beneath the rising water.

The sound of my phone ringing caused me to jump and look ahead again.

I didn’t even get a chance to say hello before my wife’s panicked voice filled the truck.

“Why aren’t you home yet?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“Emma, I’m on my way now. I just got stuck in traffic,” I said, trying my best to calm her down.

“Can you turn around? Go a different way, please!” Her voice trembled.

“Okay, yeah, I can try,” I said. My voice had started shaking, too. Something felt wrong, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just the hurricane.

A loud honk came from ahead, then another.

I leaned forward again, wiping the fog from the windshield with my jacket sleeve.

“What’s happening?” Emma asked.

“Nothing, I don’t think.” I turned my windshield wipers up to the highest notch, but it barely made a difference. Rain slammed against the glass faster than the blades could clear it.

Another horn blared, and this time it didn’t stop.

“What the hell?” I said.

“Noah?”

Suddenly, the driver’s door of the car in front of me swung open. A woman climbed out into the pouring rain.

“Some lady just got out of her car,” I said, watching her with a blank expression.
That seemed to send Emma into a panic.

“Noah, please! Just get home, now!” she practically screamed.

A sudden scream cut through the sound of the rain, and I froze.

I sat up straighter, searching the road ahead.

Another scream.

This time, I knew something was wrong.

“Noah?” Emma asked again.

“Something’s happening up ahead.”
The phone crackled.

“Don’t… get out… truck.”

“Emma?”

“…home, Noah!”

“Em, you’re breaking up.”

I pulled the phone away from my ear and checked the screen.

One bar. Of course.

“Emma, can you hear me?”

Nothing. Then the call dropped.

I immediately tried calling her back, but the call failed.

“Damn it!”

I tossed my phone into the passenger seat, looking toward the traffic again.

The woman who had gotten out of her car was nowhere to be seen, but something else caught my attention.

A few more people were climbing out of their cars, all staring in the same direction with terrified expressions.

I squinted through the windshield.

Someone was standing between the stopped cars.

I couldn’t make out much through the rain, but something about the way he stood made my stomach turn.

He began walking down the middle of the road toward my truck, his movements slow and unsteady. It was almost like he didn’t know where he was.

Or who he was.

As he got closer, his face became clearer.

He was the same man from the parking lot at my store. Only now, blood was seeping through his shirt and running down his face.

Then he suddenly lunged at the car next to me. The scream that followed was loud enough to hear through my closed windows.

“What the fuck?”

I gripped the steering wheel as every instinct in my body told me to get the hell out of there.

I threw the truck into reverse and backed up a few inches. The driver behind me immediately laid on his horn.

“Yeah, I see you! Back up, man!”

I was practically begging at this point, even though I knew he couldn’t hear me.

I checked my mirrors, looking for any possible way out.

Nothing.

There wasn’t one.

My breathing grew heavier as the man continued pounding against the car beside me. The people inside were screaming.

I quickly checked that my doors were locked before ducking down, out of sight.

I covered my ears, desperately trying to keep myself from panicking as I crouched below the windows.

Whatever the hell was happening out there, I didn’t want to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's where I'll leave you, Little Leaves! 🍁⛈️

What exactly is happening on Galveston Island?

I guess you'll just have to wait and see!

And this short story will be completely FREE to everyone, too! 

That's right, you don't have to pay to find out what happens next!

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek, and thank you again for making my dreams come true in my little corner of comfort.

Until next time, Little Leaves1

-Autumn