Inspiration - A Hiking Trail

Today I am sharing a photo of a location that inspired a scene in my first novel, and a snippet of the scene.

In book one of my Rock Shop Mystery series, Stone Cold Dead, Morgan Iverson is chasing escape-artist donkey Adelaide. You can tell the photo I snapped was in summer, while the scene takes place in January, but you get the idea.

​Adelaide strolled past the meadow, following the trail as it plunged into a grove of cottonwood trees. Morgan hurried to catch up. Bare limbs arched over the trail. The dim January sun cast mottled shadows onto a carpet of decomposing leaves.

Morgan walked swiftly, anxious to escape the short section of tunnel-like trail. A shiver ran up her spine, and not from the chill wind. She tried to catalog the discordant symphony of sounds, connecting each to a harmless source. Wind gusted through the brush, rattling dried leaves. The creek gurgled over rocks and under sheets of ice. Birds cried warnings to each other. Morgan wouldn’t have called it song.
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An abrupt crashing instantly drowned out the subtler sounds of the forest. Morgan stopped and held her breath. An unseen creature thrashed its way through the brush, parallel to the trail. She searched the shadows, hoping she had caught up with Adelaide at last.

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