-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 Forty Six
When they were just about to the curve Aliyah felt something brushing at her hair. She whipped her hand up and then…
She was sitting straight up in bed, her dad standing over her covering his nose.
“Ow, that must have been some dream, you popped me right in the nose!” He started laughing and Aliyah smiled weakly. They were almost to the curve! Couldn’t he have waited ten more minutes to wake her?
“Sorry daddy, I thought I was being attacked by a bat.” She said simply.
“A bat? Where were you, a deep dark cave?”
“No,” she giggled. “Outside somewhere.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Well, it’s time to wake up, I’ll be downstairs with an icepack,” he teased.
He walked out and she realized she had been annoyed at him for waking her up after having swatted him a good one in the face! This struck her funny bone and she collapsed into laughter. Every time she tried to stop she would picture the startled look on his face and him protecting his nose and crack up again. Ephraim overheard and popped his head in the door.
“What’s so funny?”
She tried to tell him but couldn’t get it out without laughing even more. She waved him away. He shook his head bewildered and ran down the stairs to ask her dad what happened. She finally got control of herself, then immediately wished she hadn’t. If there was one thing in life she truly loved it was laughing so hard that you can’t stop. It was euphoric and she could understand why they said laughter was good medicine. All those endorphins had to have healing power. She couldn’t wait to dream of dark eyes again so she could tell him what happened, then they could both have a good laugh.
Collin sat up in bed and banged his fist on the mattress. Damn, they were almost there. Where was there? That was the question. He threw his legs over the side, shoved his feet into slippers and shuffled off to the kitchen to make coffee. Since it was Sunday the rest of the guys were still sleeping. It was the one morning that Jake and Gerald allowed themselves the luxury of sleeping in. Of course sleeping in to them was generally 8 am at the latest, at present it was 7:30. He thought about the trees, mostly pines and wondered if he could get on the computer and pinpoint all of the areas in the U.S. that had scenery like that. He tried every search engine pouring over pictures than pushed away frustrated. It really could be almost anywhere. What they needed was some kind of a sign. Maybe it was around the bend.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jake asked from his leather seat. Collin looked over at him. He was sitting there with his feet crossed over a footstool in grandfatherly pajamas, sipping his morning hazelnut decaf while reading the Sunday paper. Straight out of a fifties sitcom. This was not a guy he could talk to about such things now or ever.
“Nothing, just looking something up.”
“What is it, maybe I could help you.”
“It’s personal.”
“What’s personal?” Brent came out of his room scratching his head and yawning.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing.” Luckily he only had the two to contend with, Gerald had gotten up, showered, and headed to the library.
Brent and Jake were looking at him, waiting for more.
“Come on guys, can’t I have some space?”
“Sure,” they both said in unison. Brent headed into their kitchen area for some coffee and Jake went back to the Sunday News.
Collin turned back to the computer screen and silently cursed it out. Why, with so much information at your fingertips, could you never find the things that you really needed. But with so little information, it was pointless.
He flopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote irritably. Well, maybe he’d dream about it tonight and they would round that corner. Of course maybe they would never round the corner, maybe they would get almost there, every time, and wake up just like they did when they attempted to ask one another certain things. Or maybe nothing but more road and more trees were around the corner and they would never get anywhere because it was 1400 miles long and they didn’t have a car to use. He shook his head, this was getting him no where. He managed to find something to watch after having flipped through all the stations four times and settled back to learn more about deep sea diving with sharks.
He lazed the morning away watching the Discovery channel. The phone rang. Brent answered it and poked Collin in the shoulder with the antennae.
“For you Col.”
“Hello? Mom? What, slow down, I can’t understand a word your saying.” The look on Collin’s face changed from confusion to shock.
Brent and Jake were watching him intently, he rarely ever received phone calls from his mother.
“Why didn’t you call me last night?” His voice was a hoarse whisper. He dropped the phone on the floor and slid off the couch onto his knees. He pressed his face against the rug and yelled, gripping it with both hands.
Brent and Jake crouched down on either side of him waiting helplessly to hear whatever terrible news had caused their friend to wail into the carpet. He continued to kneel there with his face pressed up against the soft green fur of the floor, his whole body felt hot and he was finding it very difficult to breathe. His eyes were squeezed shut, you’re going to wake up, he told himself. That’s what will happen. Slowly he opened his eyes, the floor shouted up at him that he was not in bed. His vision blurred and he stared at the floor struggling to take a breath.
He pushed back from the rug and jumped up. Looking around the room he felt disoriented. It had to be a dream. This could not be real! This was not real, Oh God please let it not be real! He shouted this in his mind over and over. He grabbed the sides of his head and looked at the concerned faces of his friends. He shook his head violently as if it would make the information fly out and away from him. A lump was forming in his throat that he couldn’t force down and when he spoke it came out in a shaky croak. “My little brother died in the hospital this morning,” He shook his head again disbelieving his own words. After a moment he managed to continue in a whisper. “Apparently he was in a car accident late last night, that’s all I know.” He shoved his hands forward to ward off the two as they tried to approach him then went into his room and shut the door.
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