-I wrote the following novel nearly two decades ago. In the years between then and now I've honed my craft, and my perception of this world; my thoughts and ideas; have changed dramatically. However, I still enjoy the premise and have decided to do an overhaul of revisions and rewrites, though likely not until sometime next year. (Though I'm sure I'll do a little as I post chapters)
For now I hope you will enjoy a glimpse into my book writing beginnings...
They are the closest of friends though they have never met in waking life.
Prologue-PT1 Prologue-PT2 Chapter 1
Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13
Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16
Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19
Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22
Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25
Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28
Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31
Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34
Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37
Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40
Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43
Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46
Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49
Chapter Fifty One
That evening at dinner her parents kept looking at her with this “My little girl is growing up expression.” She talked to Dave on the phone for about an hour than watched the latest comedy with her family after which she went to her room to read until she was too tired to keep her eyes open. She drifted off to sleep and found herself at the stream.
“Finally!” she exclaimed. She looked around for Dark eyes and saw him standing farther down the stream staring across.
“Hey you, where have you been?” She called, jogging over to him.
He turned to look at her and his expression was filled with sorrow.
“What’s wrong?”
He took a deep breath. “I went to the funeral of my little brother today.”
Aliyah stared at him horrified. “Oh my God, oh no, what happened?”
“He was in a car accident.” He sat down and she sat beside him, her hand on his arm.
He told her everything, how he had heard, his anger at his mom, finding Jimmy. He told her that he was able to forgive his mom and they spent the night, the three of them, looking at family pictures and making a poster board for the funeral. He told her how he might have been able to save his brother if he hadn’t selfishly chose to play pool with his buddies. And he told her that so far he had not been able to cry. His voice was filled with misery and he looked at Aliyah who was able to cry, cry for him and she did.
“I know you might not want to hear this, but he is someplace wonderful right now.” Aliyah put her hand on his arm.
“Do you really believe that? That he’s in heaven?”
“Yes I do.”
“But why? Why did he have to die so young?”
Aliyah thought about it but it was not a question she could answer. Instead she said, “There are questions that we’ll probably never know the answers to until we go on to Heaven ourselves.”
He turned and faced her. “Maybe. I don’t know, I feel so lost right now.”
She put her arms around him then and hugged him tight. “I love you, I’m hurting with you and for you.”
She felt his shoulders begin to shake and held him tighter. “God, oh God,” his voice was muffled against her shoulder. “My little brother. I don’t want him to be gone, I want him to grow old. I want him to become a dad, an uncle, a grandpa.” He picked his head up to look at her, his face was wet. “I don’t understand what the point of anything is, why are we even here?” He let her hug him again, this time he was quiet except for his tears, once he started he couldn’t seem to stop and he found himself holding her tight as he cried.
When he was finished he stood. “I wonder if crying in a dream counts. Do you think it does?”
“Do you feel as if you’ve cried?”
“Yes.”
“Than it counts.”
“I’m going to church this weekend, with John and Katherine.”
“John’s going to church with her now?”
“This weekend he is, I don’t know if it will be a regular thing or not. Maybe I’ll find God there.”
“God is everywhere.”
“I know. But Katherine said that faith comes by hearing the word of God. So maybe that’s what I need to do. Anyway, I want to go back to the road, do you?”
“Oh yes, let’s go.”
They looked for an easier way up this time and found one on the other side of the bridge farther down.
“What’s wrong?” Aliyah asked her frowning friend.
“Part of me thought this bridge wouldn’t be here, the fact that it is, I just think this has to be a real place. But where is it?”
Aliyah shook her head silently thinking.
They walked down the road in silence. Just before they got to the curve Collin stopped.
“I think we might wake up again. I don’t want to until I tell you that you are the best thing in my life. That if God is real, then I should be grateful to him for sending me you.”
Aliyah’s eyes filled. “I’m grateful too.”
“Okay, let’s do this.”
They started walking and Aliyah could actually see the dream fading. Collin shouted something before he disappeared.
“I saw you…!
She sat up in bed. He saw me? From the train, that’s what he was going to say! Or was it? It didn’t matter, she laid back on her pillow and smiled. They would meet, someday. She turned on her side and prayed silently for him, for his sorrow, and for his family then went back to sleep.
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