'D' is For...??

Jessica Bell and I are A-Z Blogfest writing partners!  Today, we've chosen a word, a noun, that refers to a particular emotion / feeling / state of mind that starts with 'D'.  Based on my fictional paragraph(s) below, try to guess in the comments what emotion/etc. I've depicted.  Then, follow the link at the bottom to Jessica's post and read her take on our prompt word! (BTW, yesterday's word was 'Confidence'!)


Here's my 'D' entry:

Every sound soothed my frazzled soul:  the gentle swells lapping against the row boat as it slipped along the lake’s surface; the hollow clunk of the oar when my inexperienced movements banged it against the craft’s aluminum side; the loon’s haunting song.  I’d been in desperate need of this little excursion, to a place of childhood memories where I’d spent carefree summers before… well, before.

Another couple pulls of the oars and I steered the boat into what we kids had dubbed Beaver Bay.  The inlet of water protected a cove where the reeds grew tall and beaver houses dotted the surface.  I lifted the oars out of the water and twisted around to view the bay.  The smell hit me, fetid and rank.  My jaw dropped open.

Trash littered the shoreline.  A mound of tires, black and baking in the afternoon sun, rose to the right.  As the boat drifted closer, I looked over the edge.  I could just make out my reflection, eyebrows knit and lips pursed, despite the rainbow sheen coating the water’s surface.

The boat’s bottom scraped along the sandy bottom of the shore.  I stood to get a better view, but I wouldn’t get out.  Flies swarmed around a torn white plastic trash bag next to the boat.  I lifted an oar out of its pinning, staggering a bit under its unbalanced weight, and poked the bag.  The flies lifted for a moment, but settled greedily on their meal.  A soggy egg container fell apart, revealing a mass of wriggling, rice-like maggots.  I covered my mouth, gagging, as the oar clattered to the bottom of the boat.




Any guesses?  Leave me a comment telling me the emotion/feeling/state of mind you think I was describing.  And please shoot over to Jessica's blog (LINK HERE) to my partner's paragraph.  See you over there!


Thanks for reading!!