Yesterday I wrote those wonderful words, “The end.” Actually it should have been “The beginning,” because this is book one of an upcoming series. A few trusted people have to work their magic before I push the publish button, but not long to wait.
Here is a sneak preview.
Prologue
A bleak December day, a slippery highway, and Shona McGuire’s ordinary life would never to be the same.
Before the accident Shona’s life was not exactly as she would have planned it. In fact, it was nothing like the dreams that filled her head while she struggled with the trials and tribulations of adolescent hood.
For Shona McGuire, her early memories always return to the beach. To the tumble down bach her family have owned since she was a child, covered in sticky candy. As far as she can remember, it has always been tumbled down, with threadbare carpets and frayed curtains. A special place where sand carried in by bare feet, and their old dog’s tooth marks on the corner of the sagging couch, go unnoticed. The lawn is a tapestry of course white sand and sparse patches of Kikuyu, the only grass resilient enough to survive the salt laden air that blows off the waves, and coats the distorted glass windows in a thin, greasy film.
The handful of tiny wooden homes sit empty for most of the year. But when the holidays arrive, they come alive with the sound of laughter, and the smell of sausages, pipi fritters and crayfish cooking on the barbeque.
Her mind takes her back to Sea Dog Takeaways, and the old couple wrapping greasy fish and chips in unsold newsprint. Of her father sipping cold beer, while her mother tossed green salad, and baked fresh loaves of crusty bread.
It takes her back to a time of innocence. Memories of a handsome boy named John Myer, of two free spirits galloping ponies down the windswept beach, of diving in the crystal clear waters of the harbour, and gathering shellfish from the shallows.
Now only the bach remains unchanged, a tumble down wooden structure, that holds the family’s memories etched deep within its walls.
They say you can never go back. That the things you have left behind are best not revisited. But they never told her to go back would be the biggest mistake of her life. It all started on a slippery highway on December 23rd.
rochellecarlton 