Owl looked over the water as the boat bobbed up and down rhythmically. His eyes pierced the darkness, scouring out every detail that the moonlight could reveal to him. Kat watched him closely as he swayed back and forth in time with the waves.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you see it?\u201d She asked.<\/p>\n
Owl remained silent. His large glossy eyes glinted in silvery light. He reached into a bag that lay in the center of the small rowboat, dug around in it clumsily, and pulled up a thick package. In doing so, the bag tipped over and bundles of cash spilled into a small puddle of water that sloshed back and forth. He scooped them up quickly and deposited them back into the bag.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get all of that?\u201d Kat asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cShut up.\u201d Owl said. He didn\u2019t have to say any more. Kat knew that the revolver was still tucked inside the dirty wool jacket that he wore, so she kept her peace.<\/p>\n
The river current dragged them downstream, and time passed the same for Kat. Dragged along unwillingly, she was going toward what she could only think of was her end. At the water’s edge the land rose gradually up to rolling hills where crops of grain grew. The light breeze that disturbed the wide river also created waves in the tall weaving strands of barley and rye.<\/p>\n
What seemed as hours passed. The landscape changed little until around a wide bend in the river, a concrete landing jutted out into the riverbank, and a road wound up into the hillside. Towering above, looking out over everything, stood a single silo.<\/p>\n
Owl grunted at the sight, and began rowing toward the landing. The boat scraped and ground over the cement, at last coming to a stop. Owl jumped out and pulled the bow ashore even more. Kat rose on unsteady legs, her world moving with the river, though the boat was still.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Owl looked over the water as the boat bobbed up and down rhythmically. His eyes pierced the darkness, scouring out every detail that the moonlight could reveal to him. Kat watched him closely as he swayed back and forth in time with the waves. \u201cDo you see it?\u201d She asked. Owl remained silent. His large glossy eyes glinted in silvery light. He reached into a bag that lay in the center of the small rowboat, dug around in it clumsily, and pulled up a thick package. In doing so, the bag tipped over and bundles of cash spilled into a small puddle of water that sloshed back and forth. He scooped them up quickly and deposited them back into the bag. \u201cWhere did you get all of that?\u201d Kat asked. \u201cShut up.\u201d Owl said. He didn\u2019t have to say any more. Kat knew that the revolver was still tucked inside the dirty wool jacket that he wore, so she kept her peace. The river current dragged them downstream, and time passed the same for Kat. Dragged along unwillingly, she was going toward what she could only think of was her end. At the water’s edge the land rose gradually up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p32u0F-ip","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2613,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=2613","url_meta":{"origin":1141,"position":0},"title":"Mira","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"August 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"MIRA by Keith B. Phillips Omicron (\u03bf) Cetus, Mira (related to the words \"miraculous\", and \"ad-mire\", from Latin mirus, \"wonderful\"), is described as a deep garnet colored star located in the neck of the Whale or Sea-Monster. \u2014 The Constellation of Words She was late, but he didn\u2019t mind. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/img_0592.jpg?fit=428%2C344&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1093,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1093","url_meta":{"origin":1141,"position":1},"title":"Pride, Flags, and Plastic Frogmen","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"March 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was a little kid growing up in the wilds of Canada, occasionally the topic of where you were from would come up. \"I'm an American,\" I would proudly say, although my only memories of the States were from four and five years old. They were spotty at best,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2835,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=2835","url_meta":{"origin":1141,"position":2},"title":"History Lesson","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"December 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Prologue Despite being new to humanity, Hellas Planitia had a long and very violent history. 3.9 billion years ago a large asteroid had slammed into the Martian surface, vaporizing it, and spreading debris seven thousand kilometers in every direction. The impact was so severe that it affected the core of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3047,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=3047","url_meta":{"origin":1141,"position":3},"title":"The Villain I Made","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"March 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I've not been good at villain creation. I've known many of them in my life, but I haven't ever made one. I guess my storytelling child author just assumed people are good or bad. But in reality people are all different shades, moving in and out of these shadows, transforming,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1309,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1309","url_meta":{"origin":1141,"position":4},"title":"The Making of Villains","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"February 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"How do you make a villain that feels credible? Meet Baxter Hickman. Part man, part monster, and totally being used.","rel":"","context":"In "My Thoughts On Stuff"","block_context":{"text":"My Thoughts On Stuff","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1261,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1261","url_meta":{"origin":1141,"position":5},"title":"I Can Read With My Eyes Shut Tight","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"July 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was eleven, I was asked to be in a school play. It was about Gilligan's Island. And because I was skinny and had dark hair, they thought that I would be a good match for Gilligan. I loved that show and watched it whenever I could. 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