Words on Wednesday: First Campaign Challenge and Tag!

Rachael has posted her first Writers' Campaign Challenge and this is it: a 200-word (or less) flash fiction beginning with "The door swung open". For a further challenge, you can write precisely 200 and end with "The door swung shut".

In for a penny, in for a pound! I've gone for the full set of challenges. Here is my first flash fiction piece:

Into the Otherworld

The door swung open and stayed open. Yes, she’d done it! One eye open, then the other. Yep, still there. The doorway that she’d seen a thousand times in her mind was shimmering in the air in front of her.

“Thanks be to thee, who hast shown me the way. I beg thy continued assistance as I journey into the Otherworld.”  She could hardly get the words out, but spirit guides can be dead funny if you don’t follow protocol.

She snuffed out the candles and stepped into the light. She didn’t know where to look first; everything was so bright. She rolled the air around her tongue – could it really have an actual taste? Sweet and rich at the same time. She closed her eyes to rest them for a moment. Probably mere human senses would get a bit overwhelmed here.

“You’ll adjust soon.”

She stared at the guide’s new appearance as he smiled at her. She hadn’t seen his teeth before. Well, apparently, she hadn’t seen him before.

“We don’t appear as ourselves in your world,” he explained. “You only see what you want to.”

She saw him clearly now. She turned back as the door swung shut.

Head over to Rachael's blog to read more of these and vote for your favourite!

I've been tagged by Maria on her blog, First Draft Cafe, and now I must share ten random facts about myself. Funnily enough, it's the start of term tomorrow and I've planning all those getting-to-know-you things like two truths and a lie, human bingo etc, so this feels very appropriate just now. 

1. I teach English but my degree is in Modern Languages.
2. I wear DMs to work (my excuse is that I have to walk to the bus stop and then to the station and then to college and my feet hurt if I wear actual shoes, but really I love my DMs).
3. I used to play the flute and was in the county wind band and youth orchestra as a teenager.
4. My eldest daughter will be 13 next month and I can't quite believe it :)
5. I love cheese and chocolate (but not usually together).
6. I'm a feminist and hate the negative reaction the label gets.
7. The first teaching job I had was when I was only 18. I taught an evening class in conversational French in my year out between sixth form and uni. I was the youngest there!
8. My first ever job was in a butcher's shop, washing up and cleaning the walk-in fridge walls. I still eat meat.
9. I'm a list addict. I don't think I could function without Remember the Milk.
10. I'm named after Beth in Little Women - Mum loved the name from reading that book as a kid.

Finally, I need to share the tagging. I think I've picked people who haven't already done this, but if not, don't worry, no-one expects you to do it twice! Here are some lovely people I've met through blogging:

You're it Susan @ http://www.susankayequinn.com/

You're it Brooke @ http://brookerousseau.wordpress.com/

You're it Michele @ http://wanderingparis.blogspot.com/

You're it Claire @ http://clairehennessy.blogspot.com/

You're it Kelley @ http://writtled.blogspot.com/