I have a pleasure to have K.D. Emerson and a page from her amazing Teen/YA book, Digitus 233, on my blog today! She is a dear friend and a mentor of many authors. A special person who has always time for others.
Bio:
K.D. Emerson loves writing thought provoking and action filled stories that will bring her readers back for more. Although her writings deal with the evils of the world she dishes out healthy doses of laughter and fun along the way.
K.D. spends her free time wrangling wild horses, rafting down the Amazon, hang gliding on a toothpick and when she’s awake you will find her working on her next adventure or assisting others in creating their dreams.
Visit K.D. on her blog at http://digitus233.com/category/blog/
Or connect with her on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/kimmutch.emerson
Twitter connection is: @MstrKoda
The Roulette has ‘spoken’ and the selected page is…drum rolls…
Page nineteen from Digitus 233
“That’s not yours, you little thief! Give it back.” Zeph tripped over the roots of an odd-looking tree. They were above the ground, making the tree looked like it was standing on long spindly legs. CREEPY! The more he tried to free himself from the roots the more tangled he became in the multi-colored vines and moss. He finally broke free and raced madly after the monkey, panting and cursing under his breath. At last, the little fiend stopped and peered down at him. It swung the backpack over Zeph’s head, just beyond his grasp.
He’s playing with me, Zeph thought. How does he know how to tease? Zeph held perfectly still, his chest heaving, throat burning. He looked into the eyes of the monkey. A message seemed to dance in the little guy’s eyes. Zeph suddenly jumped up and snatched at the backpack. He lost his balance as he came down and fell flat on his back.
“You’re a brat!” He yelled into the trees.
The monkey let out a screech and dropped the pack directly on Zeph’s head, then let go with a series of staccato chirps as it swung on a vine back and forth over Zeph as he lay on the carpet of ferns.
“It’s not funny,” Zeph huffed. “I have one energy bar left. You have a whole jungle full of food.”
The monkey cocked his head and looked sideways him. Zeph sat up and ran his hands through his soaking hair. He looked around and realized he had no idea where the path was. “Now look what you’ve done. I’m not like you, ya know. I don’t know how to find my way around this place.”
The small squirrel face stared at him. The brows knitted together, lips puckered. He let out a quiet little “eek” as he dropped down and hopped onto a piling of rocks several feet away. He bobbed his head up and down like a windup toy. Zeph let out a laugh.
“You’re one crazy little dude,” he said. “In fact, that’s your name. It fits. Crazy Dude, the windup monkey.”
Zeph turned away from the impish face and looked through the trees. The jungle seemed to close in around him. Immense; so many different forms of plant life, yet everything looked the same in every direction. He couldn’t tell which way he had come from. A feeling of desperation filled him. What way to go? The echo of his heart thumped a hopeless cadence.
A bird called high above as the sun glinted through a ceiling of leaves. Small bursts of sunlight, hope beyond reach. He could curl up and die here… But wait! Something in the distance. He stood up and listened. Insects buzzed. Birds called out. The wind blew through leaves and ferns far above his head. A rushing sound came from far off. Rushing sound… Water!
He picked up his backpack and tossed it over one arm. There was nothing to do, but to keep moving. He willed his feet to move, and as they did he felt the burden of his journey lighten. His feet sank into the soft rich soil. Vines and moss hung from trees. He would somehow get through this.
Even if I have to spend my whole life in this stinkin’ jungle, if I can get to the water I can survive. He yanked his backpack up over his shoulder, set his mouth in determination. Fear, stand back, cuz I’m coming through! Zander is depending on me. Heck, I’m depending on me!
The terrain took a sharp incline and he found himself climbing up a rocky ridge, his feet slipping and sliding on the slick wet surface. It was difficult to breathe in the soggy steam-bath surroundings. As he trudged along he thought, Note to self. Never follow your brother to camp again.
Every now and again Crazy Dude would drop down out of a tree and jump up and down in front of Zeph, and then shoot up the cliff and into the treetops. Zeph laughed at his antics.
“Why are you following me? I’m not sharing my energy bar with you.”
My review of Digitus 233:
Zeph is jealous about his brother Zander going onto camp Digitus, a leadership camp for the future leaders of the world, so he decides to go there too. Zeph hides himself to the plane that’s taking Zander to the camp but finds out soon that something weird is going on. He accidentally sees some of the happy campers except they look far from happy as they’re tied to their seats blindfolded. When the plane lands and Zeph is able to crawl out of the cargo area the campers are gone and he realizes that he’s in the middle of worldwide conspiracy and terrible mind games…
Meanwhile Zander and the other campers are being tested but the tests they must survive are not child’s play but a matter of life and death and in order to stay alive they must give all they got and even beyond that, reaching for the abilities inside of them they didn’t even know existed…
Happy reading!
Jen x
AUTHOR JENNIFER LOISKE 