Hello and welcome!
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A few weeks ago I said that would be the last snippet from “Toy Run,” but tonight while I watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and then Shrek the Halls, the holiday spirit snuck up and smacked me upside the head. Plus, I’m cold and refuse to turn on my heater before January unless there’s snow on the ground (which there isn’t).
So welcome to another snippet featuring my holiday bikers, Ian and Ed. Actually, Ed’s not on-screen for this one but I still like it. I hope you do too.
I think this snippet is self-explanatory, but I will say it’s in Ian’s POV. The rest of the “Toy Run” snippets are here if you’d like to read them.
THE RUN went longer than those things usually do. Went to a couple in San Francisco and from the staging area to cruising past the hospital to wave at the kids only took about three hours, give or take. Thirty miles of pavement was all there was to it.
They do things differently in Oregon. We loaded the toys onto two school buses and followed the one going to the hospital. The rest of the toys headed in the other direction to be wrapped and delivered to the kids of deployed soldiers.
Once we passed the hospital, the route felt more like a Poker Run—roughly two hundred miles through four counties. The scenery changed from woods to farmland and back again, the ice glittering in shady patches alongside the road the only constant.
Thanks for reading!
For more snippets head to the usual haunts: Seductive Studs and Sirens, Weekend Writing Warriors, and Snippet Sunday!
If you’d like to read “Toy Run”, it’s available for pre-order now, and as a standalone beginning December 1st.
photo credit: Random Activity via photopin cc
Charley Descoteaux 
Love the description of the scenery. (Sounds a little cold for a motorcycle ride, though! You’re making me want to go get some hot chocolate to warm up with!)
Thanks! It’s an unseasonably cold day for Dec in the PNW–but they survive it. 😉
After a while you just get numb-ish & can just relax & enjoy it (says the crazy person whose ridden on highways with snowbanks along the sides, towering up over her head).
Sweet toys distribution. It might be hard for the kids to be in the hospital for Christmas.
This is a lovely and well written snippet. Well done!
Even before I read your reply to Paula, I figured you rode—your descriptions are perfect.
Have you ever done a Toys for Tots ride?
Thanks, Sarah! It’s been a while, but some things you just don’t forget.
Not here in Oregon–the run in my story is cobbled-together from my own experiences and stories I’ve heard about others around the country. So many different traditions all coming down to making sure kids have something to open on Christmas morning.
Very fluid writing, Charley. And a perfect snippet for the season. 🙂
Thanks, Teresa! Ian’s voice was a writer’s dream, he was very outward-focused and could’ve described the run for another 10K words easy–getting him to talk about anything personal was another matter!
Excellent excerpt, really put me in the holiday mood, from the description of the weather and what they were doing…
Great snippet!
Super seasonal description.
very nice 🙂 love the details in the snippet