An Excerpt from my NaNoWriMo Novel for my #freewrite Today!

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This is an excerpt from my NaNo novel, using the word prompt 'irritation' and the picture down below, both of which just happened to be a part of this piece.

As her husband, Mike McAffey bet on red-22 on the roulette wheel for the third time, behind him, Julie tallied up how much they had won and lost during this single trip to the casino. Colorado's Black Hawk and Central City(TK) were Mike's idea of a family vacation. Every year since they'd been married, they'd bundle up the kids and bring them to Colorado from Connecticut to ski and gamble. The first night was always the worst -- if Julie didn't rein in the purse strings, Mike would spend every dime they had and then some.

The casino was loud and noisy, not just a few of the people surrounding the table a bit more than tipsy from the drinks the waiters brought around on trays(TK). From the red carpet to the glistening faux gold on the ceilings and walls to the people dressed in all their gilt and glory, Julie had had enough of casinos and the fairytale that the customers brought with them inside.

Her purse began to buzz -- she was sure that she was the only person to turn her phone's ringer off while she was busy -- and she took a look at it. Nevaeh's name and number shown brightly on the screen.

"Hello? Nevie...?" Julie looked down at her watch. It had only been an hour and a half since she had left the kids with Nevaeh.

"Mrs McAffey... shit, I'm so sorry." Nevaeh sounded hysterical. Car noises and horns sounded like they were behind her. Was she outside? "I didn't know--I don't know what to do!"

Julie took a deep breath and walked out of the casino and onto the sidewalk, shadows flickering from the flashing neon lights, the sickening smell of second-hand cigarette and cigar smoke trickling into her lungs. "Nevie, look, just tell me what happened. I'm sure it'll be okay. Is it Alex? Did he--?"

"No, nothing he did... Look, can you just meet me and the kids at the Sinclair station on (TK)? It's the gas station with the--"

"Green dinosaur, right?" Julie vaguely recalled the dinosaur. Most because Alex had pointed it out on the way to their cabin.

"Yeah. Please... please hurry--" The call went dead.

"Nevie? Nevie!" Julie yelled into the phone, as if Nevaeh could hear her. Looking at the symbol for the cell connection on her phone and seeing that she had a full connection, she dialed Nevaeh's number. The call had probably dropped, right? Spotty connection?

The phone rang nearly endlessly and then she was sent to Nevaeh's voicemail. "HI, this is Nevaeh Rides..." Before the greeting ended, Julie ended the call, redialing Nevaeh's number.

Same thing.