Hey #Hive folks! I finally released the first chapter of my new story and thought I'd post about it here too. 😊 I'll post up a little teaser as well.
Follow the lives of a group of strangers as they try to find their feet in a new, literal 'dog-eat-dog' world. Here's what happened after you died.
Year One
July 2nd
10:30am
“You’re on in five”
Shelby gave a slight nod and thanked the backstage helper while another straightened the microphone that was clipped onto her collar. She took a slight step to the side to aline herself with the full body mirror, brushing down her black woollen suit with her free hands to make sure she looked presentable.
“Hey.” A familiar sounding voice spoke up from behind her, causing Shelby to turn around and flash a smile. “How are you feeling?” Her colleague asked, smiling softly back.
“Oh, you know. This part is always the most nerve-wrecking.” She gently chuckled, looking out onto the stage to survey the dimly lit theatre. Taking a quick glance at the audience in attendance.
She’d never seen such a large turnout.
“You’ll be fine, you’re a pro at this.” The man grinned widely. “We’ve worked our asses off for this product, the hype has been insane and our consumers love you!”
“It’s a game, not a ‘product’.” Shelby playfully scolded him, raising an eyebrow while she rolled back the cuffs of her sleeves. “And they are our supporters first, not solely consumers. We want them to have fun and actually enjoy their time playing. Not just make money. That’s not what we stand for, remember?”
The mans grin turned into a cheeky smile as he held up a finger towards her and gave it a small wiggle.
“See, you know exactly what to say. Like I told ya, a pro.”
“Three minutes!”
Shelby rolled her eyes slightly before letting out a small sigh.
“The husband and kids gonna be watching from home this time?”
“Yep.” Shelby nodded in response. “Little girls’ back for the holiday so this is the first one she’ll be watching for a while. About to go into her last year of college.”
“Really? Jesus, where does the time go, ay? I remember when she came to the office with you, had to do a school project about your job or something?”
“You’re telling me.”
“How old was she then?”
“About seven?”
Shelbys colleague placed a hand over his own heart and pulled a face as if he was in pain.
“Jeez, Shelby. We’re getting old.”
“Two Minutes!”
“And the boy?”
“At home mostly….still.” She laughed a little to herself. “But he’s still your typical twenty year old boy. Not that he’s a boy anymore, mind you. He has started to take an interest in what we do though so-”
“Hey, a potential new coffee runner for the studio?” He teased.
“Out The Shadows isn’t a family run business.” Shelby playfully raised her eyebrow again. “But, who knows. Will do him some good to have something to focus on.”
On that note, the backstage helper quickly jogged over to Shelby, fiddled with her microphone one last time before speaking.
“You ready to go on, Mrs Nix?”
She gave one last look at her colleague, giving them a small nod before turning back to the backstage helper and giving him the thumbs up.
“Let’s do this.”
If you'd like to read more, consider checking out the rest of this chapter on my Medium page.
Thanks for reading! 😊