You may be able to relate.
Seriously, thats what Mark, the editor said.
It was too much politics, too much vulgarity, too much negativity on my part.
Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
She comes off as sleepwalking.
She cannot talk and cannot be woken up.
And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows.
But Shana and her sister are not alone.
Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey.
The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.
Anticipation on this one was high.
Read on below.Wandererspublishes July 9 and isavailable for pre-order.
She called to her a few times.
So she knew Nessie wasnt in the kitchen.
Maybe she was in the upstairs bathroom.
Again the thought:Nessie ran away again.
It didnt make much sense.
First time Nessie ran away,thatmade sense.
Theyd just lost their mother lost her in a very literal way.
The four of them went to the grocery store, and only three of them came back.
Mom became a big question mark stuck in their cheeks like a fishhook.
But it was clear that their mother didnt want to be a part of their lives anymore.
Nessie believed then that it was Dads fault.
And maybe Shanas, too.
Shivering like a stray puppy.
It was like watching a glass of water tip in slow motion.
Her shoulders shook and she pressed both hands under her armpits as if hugging herself.
They got her home.
She slept for two days and then, slowly but surely, came back to life.
That was two years ago.
Today, though, Shana could not figure out why Nessie would want to run away again.
Mopey and mad and hormones like a kicking horse.
Shana was almost eighteen, now.
She was better these days.
Nessie was still all right, hadnt turned into a werewolf.
Eyes bright like new nickels.
That notebook sat there on her empty bed.
(Shana borrowed a part of it, a little test tube, to hold weed.)
Her daffodil-yellow sheets looked rumpled and slept-in.
Her pink pillow still showed her head-dent.
Shana peeked at the notebook.
Nessie had started a new list:jobs i might like??.
Included: zookeeper, beekeeper, alpaca farmer, photographer.
Shana thought.Thats my bag.A weird flare of anger lanced through her.
Nessie was good at everything.
(Well, no.
Shana would hate Nessie.
Nessie would love her unconditionally because that was Nessie.)
Shana called out for her again.
Her voice echoed and nothing but the echo answered.
School was out already and summer vacation wasnt much of one: Everything was work, work, work.
(Shana wondered if Nessie had the right idea.
She could run away, too.
Even for the day.
(If she didnt get out of here soon, shed stay here forever.
This place felt like quicksand.)
Little worker bee, that one.
What was the song on Dads old REM album?
Little worlds revealed, the micro made macro.
She didnt have a proper camera, but she was saving up to get a DSLR one day.
In the meantime, that meant using the phone.
So she went there to grab it
Something outside caught her eye.
Movement up the driveway.One of the cows loosewas her first thought.
Shana headed to the window.
Someone was out there, walking.
Little dum-dum was halfway up the driveway in her PJ pants and pink T-shirt.
Barefoot, too, by the look of it.Oh, what the hell, Nessie?
Shana ran to the kitchen, forgetting her lens.
She thought to yell to her little sister, but decided against it.
No need to draw Dads attention.
This was not a morning for nonsense, and already the nonsense was mounting.
Instead she ran up along the driveway, the red gravel crunching underneath her sneaks.
The Holsteins on the left bleated and mooed.
Nessie, she hissed.
But Nessie didnt turn around.
She just kept on walking.
What a little asshole.
Shana jogged up ahead of her and planted her feet like roots.
God, Nessie, what the hell are you
It was then she saw the girls eyes.
Her sisters gaze stood fixed at nothing, like she was looking through Shana or staringaroundher.
Dead eyes, dead like the flat tops of fat nails.
Gone was the luster of wonder, that spark.
Barefoot, Nessie continued on.
Shana didnt know what to domove out of her way?
Stand planted like a telephone pole?
The girls shoulder clipped her hard.
Shana staggered left, taking the hit.
The laugh that came up out of her was one of surprise.
It was a pissed-off laugh, a bark of incredulity.
That hurt, dummy, she said, and then grabbed for the girls shoulder and shook her.
Nessie just pulled away and kept going.
Shana waved her hand in front of Nessies eyes.
Wave, wave, wave.
Boop, she said.
Power down, little robot.
Had she blinked the whole time?
Shana didnt think so.
Then she saw: ahead, a big rain puddle.
She warned her sister: Nessie, watch out, theres a
Too late.
Nessie plodded right through it.
Feet in the water almost up to the ankles.
Still going and going.
Like a windup toy set to beeline in one direction.
Arms stiff by her sides.
Her gait sure and steady.
The thought hit Shana in the heart like a fist.
Her guts went cold, her blood to slush.
Even in the warm morning she couldnt hold back the chills.
The question was: Go get Dad?
Ahead, the end of their driveway stretched out.
There, the cheese and dairy shop made to look like a little red barn.
And there, too, the road.
God, if Nessie walked to the road and a car came by .
She yelled for her dad.
He mightve been out in the pasture or in the barn.
Going to get him meant leaving Nessie alone .
The crunch of bones under tires.
The thought made her queasy.
I cant get Dad.
Ill stay with her.
This cant go on for long.
Sleepwalkers eventually wake up.
