Love's Strength

Rhiannon felt like the luckiest girl in the world. She and her boyfriend, Kane had been together for three years the January just gone. Back in high school, their peers had thought that they were a perfect couple, one who would stay together forever. Rhiannon and Kane both firmly believed the same thing.

They'd never been tested quite like they had that April before. Sure, they'd had fights, but the night Kane's mother called her, Rhiannon's world changed. Her perfect little bubble of just her and Kane burst in an instant.

He'd gone out on his family's yacht as he often did when there was a clear blue sky and calm, steady seas. Kane's father had been driving and he'd been sitting on the edge, trailing his hand in the deep blue water as they glided along. Kane's father stopped suddenly, forgetting to warn his son, who toppled overboard and into the water, sinking fast into the water.

His father let out a yell and stopped the boat, rushing over to the edge and looking down. The water was so dark a blue that you couldn't see down. Panicking, he took off his shirt and dived in after Kane. It took him 10 nibutes to find Kane and pull him back up to the surface. He lay him in the boat and waited to see if he'd wake up. But he didn't. Turning the boat back on, Kane's father drove the boat speedily back to the peer and called an ambulance.

Rhiannon couldn't believe her eyes when she walked into the hospital room early that evening. Unconcious, his dirty blonde hair was still faintly damp and his closed eyelids concealed the normally shining lime green eyes Rhiannon badly wanted to see open. He was tucked up tight in hospital blankets and was deathly pale, looking very weak and sickly just lying there helplessly.

Much to everyone's relief, Kane woke up three weeks after the accident. But he couldn't remember a thing. "Who are you?" He asked Rhiannon the first time he saw her. "Nurse, are these my parents?" He asked when they come to see him.

Rhiannon realised that because of Kane's condition, she had to be strong for the both of them. But it was hard. All she could think was whether he'd ever remember her, remember them, again. It was a test. How strong is love? How powerful? Is it stronger than fear? Is it stronger than worry?
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My friend, author L.l Hunter's new book, Blood and Stone, the second book in the Legend of the Archangel series is out now. Here's a blurb for you:
After the death of Kat, Jacob flees and goes off on his own
But when he discovers that her soul is missing and being held captive by the Lucifites, he sets off on a mission to get it back.
Blackmail leads to revenge and revenge leads to blood.
Will he fulfill his task, or will the bloodshed reveal a new side of Jacob?

On the way he uncovers a secret plot, one that leaves the Nephilim race in danger of being wiped out. Will Jacob and his friends be able to stop the rebellion before it happens?

Is love stronger than revenge?

Blood & Stone is out now from Amazon & Kindle

You Can Do It

Wendy Sanders hadn't been nannying all that long, only being in her early thirties, but she'd been babysitting ever since her teenage years. Wendy was the type of woman who was loud and out there, she loved adventure and trying new things, but her latest clients seemed to be the complete opposite. Shy, nervous, insecure and scared, the three Davis girls huddled together and shuddered the first time they had seen her. Given, Wendy could be rather intimidating when she wanted to be. Tall for a woman, at precisely six feet, with a stern looking face upon first glance with demanding dark brown eyes which were usually covered with a large pair of sunglasses.

Wendy was tough. She wouldn't stand for any nonsense, she was strict and believed in pushing the boundaries, and the limits. It was no wonder the three Davis girls were intimidated by her. At 13, 8, and 5, Annie, Eve and Hannah were vulnerable and naive.

So what do you do with three, timid, young girls? You take them out, and you climb a mountain. At least, that was Wendy Sanders' approach. "I can't do it!" Five year old Hannah complained when they hadn't gone all that far yet. Annie, the thirteen year old, took pity on her. "Come here Hannah. You can piggy back a while." She hadn't been there that long, but Annie didn't dare ask Wendy if they might turn around and go back. She got the feeling that if Wendy set out to do something, she wouldn't rest until it was done, no matter what it took. And from her intimidating height and apparent physical strength, Annie couldn't even bring herself to imagine what those measures could be.

Wendy turned around and looked sternly at Annie and Hannah. "Don't carry her Annie." She instructed, and Annie put her sister on the ground again. "She can do it." "No I can't!" Hannah whined. "She's got little legs Wendy. I don't think she could do the whole thing." Annie said, doubting. "Yeah Wendy, why are you making us do this anyway?" Eight year old Eve spoke up. "That's for me to know and you to find out." Wendy answered definitely, beginning to walk again. "Now come on." She said, as she kept working. "We're not losing anyone, and I'm not stopping."

It took them a few hours at a steady pace to reach the top of the mountain. They each picked a rock and sat down, panting for their breath while they looked out at the view. "We're really high up, aren't we?" Eve asked, a little nervous. "You can't get views like this anywhere else!" Wendy said, pleased and content. "So why did we do this?" Hannah asked the same question her sister had asked when they'd been about halfway up the mountain. "Well," Wendy looked meaningfully at the girls. "You did it, didn't ya?" Eve and her sisters nodded timidly. Wendy was scaring them again. "So why did we do it? Annie asked again. "I, we, don't exactly see you point." "To prove it." Wendy said confidently. "Prove what?" "That you could."

Leah the Cheetah

 

It was hard for Maria to watch Leah as she ran. From the moment the gun went bang she was a blur, racing as fast as she could, which was pretty fast, around the track. Sometimes, it seemed like she was on fire, literally. She was a rocket. She was the fastest of the girls in her year, her age group and the school. She won gold during every cross country race and went all the way to State, and often Nationals to compete in the sport she loved.

 

But while running was Leah's passion, because of how great she was at it, the other students would call her a cheater. It hurt her to be called a cheater, when it was all hard work, effort and natural talent. Her mother, Maria knew how much it hurt Leah to be called that. She worked hard to be good at her running, to be the best. So when people said, constantly at times, that she was a cheater, it hurt her.

 

One night, after another running race, Maria and Lah sat on the lounge together. Again, the other participants and some of the onlookers had accused her of being a cheater. "Ok, Leah." Her mother looked her daughter meaning fully in the eye, her voice rich with a strong Spanish accent. "What is it Mama?" Leah looked at her mother, the promise of waiting tears in her eyes. "They say you are a cheater, yes?" Leah nodded. "But you are." Leah pulled back, her eyes wide as she stared at her mother in shock. "Not you too Mama!" "No." Maria continued calmly. "Take the word cheater. Rearrange the letters a little bit and replace the 'r' with an 'h'." Leah looked confused, but to Maria's relief, no longer hurt. "Cheetah." Maria clarified, smiling at her own cleverness. "You, my pet are a cheetah." Leah smiled, understanding now.

 

"They may call you a cheater." Maria said. "So let them. Because you know, in your own heart that you are a cheetah. The fastest of them all." Leah smiled at her mother. "And no one, " She added, stroking Leah's short black hair. "Can tell you differently."

The Vision

Reece and I had been living in the desert in the middle of nowhere for roughly three years, Recce for longer. We sat in our makeshift living room as we often did of an afternoon when Reece had another vision. He closed his eyes, deep in concentration. That was how I could tell what was happening. "What do you see Reece?" I asked calmly, my hand on his knee. "I see somewhere else, a different environment. We're there. I think we're looking for something." He explained. They went to bed early that night and set out early the next morning on the first real adventure they'd had in years.

 

It was quite a trek before we finally reach the place Reece had seen in his vision. A lush, green bush much different from the desert scenery we'd had for the last three years. "What is it that we're supposed to find Reece?" I asked as we walked along the leaf strewn bush track. "I'm not sure. I didn't see that part." He said, sounding apologetic. "Maybe if we keep going along this track, it'll lead us to where we're supposed to go." I suggested. Reece nodded his agreement and we continued on.

 

It was a while before Reece recognised anything from his vision. But for once, I didn't mind the walk. This bush had an awful lot of trees which meant a great deal of shade and it was cool. A welcome, refreshing change from the stinking heat of the middle of the desert. All of a sidden though, Reece stopped dead in his tracks. I had to back up a few paces to reach him again. "What is it Reece?" I asked, looking at him, my intrigue growing with every passing moment. "This." He gestured to our surroundings. "I recognise this. All of this. It was the first thing I saw in my vision." To my right was a huge tree that provided lots of shade. The dirt track continued, still leaf strewn and not to far ahead was a fence and light. We would soon be escaping from the shade. There was tufts of boldly coloured, vibrant green grass near the gate. Perhaps the brightest plant I'd seen in a long time.

 

We kept on going, pausing at the gate. It turned out to e a short, downhill stretch without shade. The shady path on the other side of the sun exposed hill was quite windy compared to the path would been following earlier. As we went on, further into the bush, the air grew denser, damper. It turned out that had been a clue as to what we'd find at the end of the bush track.

 

At the end of the bush track was a beautiful, picturesque oasis of sorts. A great pool of water with a waterfall constantly replenishing it from the far wal off where they were standing. Seeing as the bush walk had been unexpectedly long, we decided to take a rest there and so we sat down, watching the waterfall for a while. The loud crashing sound of the water rushing down and hitting the oasis.

 

We must have fallen asleep there. Given it was a peaceful, refreshing, cool place it wouldn't have been hard. But all of a sudden, Bot Reece and I woke with a start at what appeared to be a gasp. Rather strangely, a person had emerged from the water. They spotted us and, startled I suppose, disappeared beneath the water again. Moments later, they appeared again, this time at the waters edge. They rested their arms on the ground. supporting themselves.

 

"Hi." They began. The voice was that of a woman. She couldn't have been much older than her twenties I guessed. "Hi." Reece said, making the first move toward the stranger. I followed cautiously behind him, careful not to stray too far behind. Reece smiled at the stranger, friendly. It seemed he wasn't scared at all. "I'm Reece and this is Regina." The straner extended her hand to Reece. "Georgia." She smiled and they shook.

 

Reece made room as she got out of the oasis. "Have you two been here long?" "A while." I spoke up now, suddenly assured she wasn't a threat or something to be wary of. "Around three years I think. Either way, we've been ot here so long we kind of lost track of times." Georgia smiled, nervous. "This is going to sound like a really crazy question. but do you two have any powers?" "No." Reece answered, his tone friendly, soothing. "It's not crazy, and yes, we do both of us. I can tell the future, and Regina here can fly." Georgia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Oh good." She laughed. "Whats yours?" I asked, curiosity taking over. "Me?" Georgia smiled. "I can breathe underwater."

 

To Be Continued...

 

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NOTE: This story is a continuation of 'A New Life'.

Transition

Pearl stood at the top of the stairs, looking down. She was unsure and nervous. "Come on." Her brother beckoned to her from a few steps away, holding his hand out toward her. Those stairs looked awfully steep and the ground uneven. She didn't want to fall. She and her brother, Jackson were taking a leisurely bush walk and they were nearly at the end.

While Jackson was now 24, Pearl was only 18 and had graduated from high school only months ago. She was still finding her feet, figuring out who she was and what was next. Where she fit into the world and what she'd do with the rest of her life. It was scary, daunting. All she'd known for the past thirteen years was school, the routine, the pressure, the requirements and responsibilities. Now, she'd been kicked out so to speak into a scary world that she didn't know anything about. Suddenly she was an adult and had far more responsibilities then she had before. She was her own person, not the child of her parents. She was accountable for herself now. She couldn't hide anymore. This was it. There was no denying it anymore. This was Pearl's time. Her time to shine.

This step, Pearl realised, was kind of like a metaphor. A metaphor for stepping out of one part of her life and into the next. Jackson, as he held his hand toward her was symbolic of the support she had. It was a transition. A transition between two different phases of her life. She might be nervous, but everyone was when they were faced with something new. That was completely normal. It was ok to be nervous. It just wasn't ok to give in to the nerves, the fear. You had to rise above it and keep on going. Because the world wouldn't pause for you to get back up and get your breath back.

Pearl to a breath before she reached for Jackson's hand. 'This was it.' She thought. He leaned toward her and took her hand in his own, clutching it tight. She took another breath before she stepped down onto the first step. The first step of a new phase in her life. It would probably get easier from here, she realised. Because it was that first step that was always the hardest. Sure, she'd have her ups and down, some bad times and some good. But that was just like everyone else. The difference was that she knew now to embrace every moment instead of fearing bad things may come of it. Because by embracing, you were living. And now, Pearl realised, it was time to live.