Anyone want to play the excerpt game?
First couple paragraphs from your NaNo..throw it up in all its original ugliness, or beauty, whatever. =)
Spoiler:
Spanish moss swayed from the cool breeze, making the tiny tendrils dance in the otherwise stale air. Sweat poured down my back from just below the high collar to the crevice between my shoulders. I shook it off like a wet dog, finding no luck and no relief. Autumn was supposed to be the cooling season, a chance for the heat of the long summer to finally burn its last blaze and give me some kind of break from the relentless inferno that last summer had been.
But none was to be had.
Ashes floated on the wind, twisting grey specks that landed on my nose like new fallen snow. Woodsmoke hung heavy in the October stagnancy.
It wasn’t just the wind carrying the foul odors of war, it was in the faces of the haunted people that milled about in the noon sun. Gaunt, drawn faces in tight scowls, eyes wide with fright and the tremors of dread.
How much longer? Soon. A lot sooner than I thought. Branches from the lone oak swayed gently, leaves fell to the ground, mixing with the ash in a contrast of dead earth and dried up salvation. Clockwork machines drifted up into the heavens, large watch faces made the time impossible to avoid.
Brown air belched from the guts of a nearby robot. It clanked in time with the footfalls of a forgotten people. Coal eyes turned to meet my wandering gaze and I felt my face flush red with embarrassment. Did it catch me staring?