An Officer, a Servant, and the Second World War

                                      

Picture from pinterest

 Hey y'all! How are you doing this Friday? I am doing good!  A little on the tired side, but good.
But guys, seriously, WHERE DID MY OCTOBER GO TO?! It's not possible that November is so close!! Well, okay, maybe it is possible but it sure doesn't feel like it. And 2017 is only like two months away. And the election is only 17 days. *headesk* Please, someone wake me up when it's all over and I'm older. And wiser. Because voting isn't too attractive this year. 

Okay, anyway. On to a more pleasant subject . . .
I mentioned it last Friday's post that I had a new story idea I was was working on and researching, and I had a few people ask in the comments what it was. Sooo  . . . I thought I'd write a post about it. I actually got the idea after watching the "new" (2015) Disney Cinderella. Yes, it took me this long to get around to watching it, but I finally did in when I was in Washington. (I thought it was amazing, by the way.
After watching it, I had this story idea that I couldn't forget. (And yes, I tried to forget it because I hate working on more than one story at a time. ;P)
Thus I started work on what I'm hoping will be a novella, around 20,000-25,000 words.  And . . . here's the blurb for Beyond the Horizon, which will hopefully be finished before NaNo starts. And I've only written about 4,500 words right now.
Haha, yeah. We'll see how that goes. ;)

Eliana--Elly--longs to see the world beyond the mountains that tower above Salzburg, Austria, but knows that dream will never see such adventure- and neither will she.
Surrounded by a world of cruelty, she lives for the weekly visits of Aaron, a boy she met on one of her rambles through the woods. But as the years pass and she begins to grow older, a new and unwelcome world is opened up to her.on a fateful night at a party she vowed she’d never attend, she comes face to face with a shocking truth.
As the world around her teeters on the brink of war, and the only family she’s ever known vows to keep her in servitude, Eliana struggles to figure out just where her loyalty lies; a decision that will drastically change the course of her life. Will she ever be free to see what lies beyond the horizon?

So . . . what do you think? Does it make you want to read the story? If you haven't already figured it out, it's a WWII Cinderella retelliung. With an officer instead of a prince. ;) 
Here's a small clip from what I've written so far. *hides because it's not edited* 

A knock at the front of the estate sounded, vibrating off the great, vaulted ceilings of the house. “I’ll get it.” Elly quickly wiped her hands on her apron and smoothed her hair while making her way out of the kitchen and into the foyer.

She opened the door just as the man outside raised his hand to knock again. Seeing her there, he took a step back and saluted. “Heil Hitler.”  

Elly frowned. Ever since Austria had been annexed by Germany, it was the required greeting. Still, that didn’t mean she had to enjoy it. She gave a half-hearted salute in return. “Heil Hitler.” For a split second she wondered what he would have done if she had instead saluted the late Austrian president. For some reason, the thought struck her funny, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

The man did not seem amused. The brown uniform he wore added to his stiff look, and he shoved an envelope at her. “See that this is delivered to the lady of the house.”

Rescuing the envelope before it fell to the ground, Elly looked it over. It was a simple white envelope, with only the name of her mother and the address of the estate on the back. Curious about what it could be, she turned to ask the uniformed man, but he had already wheeled around and was almost to the black, shiny car that had delivered him there. As he opened the door, he turned once more. “Heil Hitler.”

This time Elly only nodded. She could have sworn that she saw him frown, but offending one of the notorious gentleman of the Third Reich was the last thing on her mind. Though she was little interested in politics, she knew that her father had not been in favor of what Hitler was doing in Germany, and she could only shudder to think what he would have said if he realized Austria was now ruled by the same man.

The car left in a whirlwind of powdery snow, and Elly quickly stepped back into the shelter and welcoming warmth of the open doorway. The thought of the uniformed men taking over Austria didn’t sit well with her. Not that it was her concern. She was only a servant, and obviously her mother must have, at one time or another, had contact with someone in the new government. But who? She stood for a moment longer, turning the envelope over in her hands.

A note from the Third Reich to her mother? Now there was something to worry about.

Does it sound interesting? I hope so!! Have a wonderful and blessed day! ;)