My current WIP | The Adventures of Bailey Sallow chapter one

Hey everyone!

I thought I'd share about my current WIP (work in progress)!

My story is called The Adventures of Bailey Sallow and it's about a thirteen year old girl, named Bailey, who moves to a new town in Arizona with her mom and dad, Mr. And Mrs. Sallow. While she is exploring she climbs a tree and when she try's to get down she falls and loses consciousness. When she wakes up she finds herself in a fantasy land, called Aerathia, with flying people (I don't really have a better name for them yet 😅), kobold army's, elder tress, and a ruler trying to keep humans out of Aerathia (there's a crazy backstory on why that I am still working on). Anyway Bailey meets a friend that try's help her escape and they go on a crazy adventure. I may turn it into a series or it will only be one book, I'm not quite sure yet.

I started the idea with my sister months ago and we wrote it "together" *cough* I did most of the work *cough* for a while but I got unmotivated and stopped. Now I am coming back to it and I am determined (for now 😝) to finish it! I hope for it to be around 30k to 50k words when it's done, which is a lot for me and why I may get unmotivated.

Now that you know more about the book here is a snippet!

The drive from Idaho to Arizona was long, bumpy, and jam packed with luggage. The more I moved to try and get comfortable the more uncomfortable I became. I groaned, admitting defeat and pushing myself against the truck door looking for relief from the pile of boxes and suitcases threatening to fall down on me and bury me completely. My mom heard my groan and looked back at me. She was just barely able to see my irritated expression through the cluttered mess of our backseat. “We're almost there Bailey. Twenty more minutes at least until we arrive.” My mom said. “Okay mom!” I said, relieved I’d soon be free from the cramped backseat. I carefully turned to look out my window. Arizona was pretty. The sun was shining over the surprisingly green terrain, which was a change of scenery from most of Arizona. And in the distance I could see a small town, the town of Glenview, where we were moving to.

A few minutes later we were driving down the main road in Glenview. People watched us drive by, probably surprised to see a new family moving in. “Look Bailey, there’s our new home!” My dad said with much excitement. I managed to twist my way around the pile of boxes and other luggage to see the vintage two story home. The pale yellow siding looked old and added to the house's rustic charm. The front porch wrapped around to the sides of the home and went all the way to the back of the house.

“Don’t get out just yet Bailey. Mom will take some stuff out of the back so nothing falls on top of you when you try to get out.” My dad said, turning the truck off and taking the keys out. I nodded then remembered he couldn't see me. But it was too late to say something, he had already stepped out of the car and wouldn't be able to hear me. I watched as my dad walked to the front porch of our new home and unlocked the door. “Let me clear this out for you so you can come out” My mom said, carefully opening the backseat door on the other side of me trying to keep stuff from falling out, and failing. Four suitcases came crashing down. I winced then laughed. “Good job, mom” I said sarcastically and gave my mom a thumbs up. She laughed. “You can get out now. Come give me some help.” My mom said, picking up the first suitcase. I threw open my door and sighed as the cool breeze hit me in the face.

I saw a few people starting to gather, whispering about a new family moving in. I smiled at them and went to help my mom. She was hauling two of the four suitcases towards our new home. I looked down at the last two suitcases. I grabbed hold of the smaller one and started towards our home.

I climbed up the front steps and into the house. Inside was dark and dusty. Old tweed curtains covered the windows blocking out the sun. I stood at the entryway of our home. To my left was the kitchen and dining room. To my right was the living room where my parents were. right in front of me were the stairs leading to the bedrooms and bathroom. “Go put that suitcase next to the others in the living room” My mom said, passing by me to go get the last suitcase outside. I entered the living room and saw my dad. He was on the phone. “Alright. Yep, we’re already at the house, see you in a bit then.” My dad said then ended the call and put his phone in his pocket. “Hey sweetie, I’ll take that from you.” he said, grabbing the suitcase in my hands and setting it where the others were. “That was the moving truck people, they’re about ten minutes away.” My dad told me. “Okay. Do I need to be here when they come or can I go explore?” I asked. “Hm, go check with your mom first but I think it's okay.” My dad replied. “Will do! Bye!” I shouted and ran outside to see mom talking to an older couple. I stopped running and walked up to them. They immediately turned to look at me and smiled. “This is our daughter, Bailey.” My mom said. “Hello!” I said politely. “Hello. It’s nice to have more younglings in Glenview. I’m sure our grandson and you will get along well.” The woman said and the man with her, who I assumed was her husband, nodded. “Mom, can I go explore? Dad said it was okay.” I asked. “I don’t see why not. Be sure to come back before dark and don’t get lost.” my mom answered. “I won't get lost!!” I said, and darted away behind our new home.

Behind our home was mostly open field behind the field there was a forest. I made my way over to the forest and thought I had found a path, I was wrong. I ran right into a thorn bush. “Ow!” I cried, and looked down at my legs. They were all scraped up. But thankfully not bleeding. I managed my way out of the forest without running into thorns again. “A perfectly good forest ruined by thorns” I said, disappointed. I looked around for something else to do since the forest seemed off limits. I spotted a single tree not too far away. I walked over to the tree and immediately started climbing it. I was getting pretty high up. I kept climbing higher and higher till I reached as far up as I could. I looked around. I could see the moving truck was parked outside of our home now and people were unloading furniture and boxes. I felt like waving but figured they wouldn't be able to see me. I sat in the tree looking at my new home and the land around it. 

A while passed and I noticed it was getting dark. I should be getting back to the house. I thought. I shimmied down a limb and looked for a place to lower myself again. “Getting down is always so much harder..” I groaned. I placed my foot on a branch and moved my hand to a new branch to steady myself. I found a branch low enough to place my foot down on it. I tested to see if the branch would hold and put the rest of my weight down on it. Crack! The branch snapped in half underneath me. I panicked and lost hold of the branch. I started to fall. I frantically flailed my arms trying to grab a branch. The tree’s limbs were smacking against my face. I felt a pit in my stomach form as I realized how close I was to hitting the ground. I tried to scream but nothing came out. Then I hit the ground, hard! I felt my breath get taken from me in an instance. Then everything went black. And that is chapter one! It's not very interesting yet... 😝 Let me know what you think? Do you like it? Do you want me to keep sharing chapters?