Title: Shine
Tags: Family, love, loss, heartache, pain, drugs, alcohol, rape, rock'n'roll, angels, demons, ghosts, possession, confusion, abuse, hope
Overview: This is the tale of a woman re-counting her experiences through life. The final truth of her life is finally exposed as she discusses such experiences as growing up in a strict home, being raped at a young age, delving into drugs and alcohol, seeing and hearing ghosts and demons, being shuffled between two religions, surviving through several abusive relationships, starting a family, and every other fight in between. But most of all it's a recollection of discovering the truth in religion, life, and God's love for all humanity. Join her in a journey that will shed light on many of the world's issues facing teenagers and young men and women in today's society and learn the right and wrong ways of going about them.
Targeted Audience: Teenagers, Young Adults, Adults, Elderly
Quote: "You may think you know the truth, but you have no idea."
Now, after reading what I have posted above, answer honestly. Is this something you'd be interested in reading? Does any area seen above tug at your heart and make you want to learn the truth or even a tad big curious to see what will be said? More so than it being an enlightening truth, it's also a learning experience to be able to help you understand your own journey and even others around you. The targeted audience may be listed above but it truly takes someone with an open mind and more so, an open heart to get the full message portrayed in the book. As a bonus, I'm including an excerpt from the novel below. Don't draw any conclusions yet, just let your mind start working after reading. Much love to you all and God bless.
Excerpt from Shine:
The sun shone down on her bare hands as she had feared. The stinging sensation started earlier than expected. Driving across the Lake Murray dam, she headed for the infamous Harbison Blvd., which seemed to look more and more like a city within a city than an actual road. She hated going to that area, mainly because it seemed like everyone else who drove that overly crowded street either had massive road rage, or couldn't drive at all. She couldn't count how many time she had almost been hit in her '85 Honda civic hatchback. She'd sworn that it was the cars fault for the near accidents that happened on a daily basis.
“The car's too freakin' small!” she'd exclaimed more times than anyone would have actually liked to have heard. “People can't see me when I'm driving beside them and they just come on over into my lane without even checking their blind spots. I swear, I can't wait to get a new car!”
Now, on this chilly February morning, with her “new to her” 2002 Dodge Neon she felt more exhilarated and less likely to lose her life over some carelessly driving fool. She lightly hummed along to an old '80's tune on the radio as she cautiously watched the speed limit. Her brain, as it normally did, whirled and danced around hundreds of thoughts but was abruptly disrupted with another stinging sensation on the top of her hand. She glanced down and upon noticing that the sun was once again grazing her bare skin, she moved her hand farther down the steering wheel to the cooling shade.
She sighed to herself while thinking, “Why is it that I have so many health problems?” At the age of twenty-seven, she'd encountered her fair share. She was born hypoglycemic, which means that she had issues with her blood sugar being low, which she had to simply eat right and it usually stayed on track. At the age of sixteen, she began to develop ovarian cysts which only went away after weeks of excruciating tests, and finally a prescription for birth control pills. At a Fourth of July celebration at Ft. Jackson when she was twenty-four, she tripped on a cooler while trying to get away from the hoards of people who frantically tried to cram on the same bus back to their cars. The result of that insanity cost her major back pain for months, and minor daily pain every day since. Also on the list was pre-cancerous cells found on her uterus after the birth of her son, Sean; three head traumas, which were self-inflicted all because she stood up too quickly slamming the back of her head against a shelf in her home which caused her to become unconscious for only a few minutes each time; astigmatism in both eyes; and several gashes from her cat graciously falling into the bathtub while she was in it. But the most detrimental of all bodily complaints was her sensitivity to the sun's UV rays.
At the feel of the latest skin burning, she began to think back to that summer in 1998, when her family took their normal vacation to the high rise condo that her father rented down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Back when she cared more about her looks than her health. When she cared more about what others thought of her and how much the daily teasing from her classmates burned her heart. And more than anything else, back when the uncaring doctor rudely said, “You're allergic to the sun!”
Desperate to avoid more than the once a year sun poisoning she was subjected to, she tried her best to stay out of the suns light but found that almost impossible to do. She repositioned her left hand repeatedly depending on how the sun was shining through her un-tinted car window. Her movement came more frequently as she drove along that winding road.
“Why am I allergic to the stupid sun? Couldn't I be allergic to something a little more avoidable...like nuts, or cotton, or...I don't know...plastic?” she thought to herself.
The ten week old mini dachshund puppy shifted his weight in her lap and looked up at her with wide glistening eyes. She grinned down at him and lightly scratched his head. Once content that all was well in the world and there was nothing to play with or bark at, he settled back down for some more sleep time.
The sun unavoidably shone onto the side of her head, making her seemingly dull brown shoulder length hair shine with hints of natural blonde and red highlights. She rolled her honey colored eyes at the warmth on the left side of her neck and began to ask questions again.
“Why has my life sucked so bad? I mean sure, it seems to be getting better now but come on! Why can't I get a break? Every time something goes right, five other things go wrong. Why do I have to be so white? Why can't I tan like everyone else? Why do I see supernatural thingamabobs? Why can't I be great at one thing, instead of being just decent at several? Why is it that-”
“Be quiet,” she heard from her right side.
She glanced over to the passenger seat but saw nothing. Her questions started again, “Who said that? Was that another ghost? Was it something evil? Did I just imagine that? Am I going crazy for real now-”
“Be quiet,” the same soft male voice said again, a little more aggressive this time.
“Okay...” she said slowly as she (not so secretly) asked a few more questions in her head.
“Stop asking questions and be quiet!” he harshly told her.
The shape of a man with dirty blonde hair, firm jaw line, pale skin, and dressed in a crisp white suit appeared sitting in the passenger seat of her grayish-blue Dodge. She noticed that he was a handsome looking man, er, thing? The “mans” clean shaven face, narrow lips, and piercing blue eyes seemed to scream anything but unholy to her.
“You're nothing like what I usually see,” she said giving him a mocking smile.
“I asked you to be quiet,” he replied, not changing the calm expression on his face.
“Okay, okay.”
Noticing the unamused look that he shot her, she straightened in her seat and looked forward at the road.
“Turn off your radio.”
Without saying a word, per his instructions, she reached down and pushed the knob in on the radio to shut if off completely.
“Just listen,” he said. “You need to stop asking so many questions. You don't wait for an answer before you ask another. You're very impatient.”
She glanced at him and gave him a smirk and a nod as if to say, “You're a quick one aren't ya?”
She sat impatiently in the noiseless atmosphere and drummed her fingers along the steering wheel. She suddenly felt a warm presence on her right hand and immediately stopped drumming. She glanced down at the pale soft hand that rested on top of hers then looked back at the mysterious man to her right.
“Shh,” he quietly said. “We've got you.”
She badly wanted to ask millions of questions to figure out what in the world he was talking about but before she could even think of one he spoke again.
“Stop worrying about everything. We've got you. When demons threaten you at night, we've got you. When the world feels like it's out to get you, we've got you. When you have to be out in the sun and you have no other choice, we've got you. You're taken care of Khat.”
Katherine Moon was speechless for maybe the first time in her life.
She came to a complete stop at a red light and reached down to take hold of her favorite energy drink. He gripped her hand tighter.
“No.”
She wordlessly looked up at his face wondering why she was having to be so quiet and still.
Her phone chimed noting that she had a new email, but as she went to reach for it he spoke again.
“No.”
She felt no need to argue or even complain. She simply just sat very still, waiting for the light to turn green and for the man to give further instructions.
She began to hear a faint sound. She cocked her head to the left trying to figure out where the sound was coming from and what it actually was. It sounded as if someone's radio was on in another room...except...she was in a car. Made no sense at all. She noticed it sounded a lot like singing, yet also like bells or chimes. Trumpets, organs, violins or some instrument she had never heard of played in the background. She couldn't pinpoint anything in the noise yet for some reason her eyes began to water. It was beautiful, yet strange at the same time.
She looked over at the man who seemed to shine in front of her eyes and started to speak but abruptly stopped before she even began.
“You can ask,” he said giving her a warm smile.
“What is that?” she said quietly.
“Angels.”
Her mind whirled. Questions flooded so fast that she couldn't pinpoint just one to ask. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart raced.
After what seemed like an eternity of trying to steady herself she finally said, “I'm hearing angels?”
He nodded at her giving her a more sympathetic look.
She noise faded away and the light turned green, yet she just sat there.
He pointed to the light and said, “You need to drive.”
She laughed lightly and slowly pressed down on the gas pedal.
She remembered a line from her favorite T.V. Show, Supernatural, and spoke that line to him.
“What, I can hear angel radio now or something?” She gave him a playful smile but didn't actually expect a response from him.
“Interesting way to put it, but yes.”
Without meaning to, she jerked the wheel to the left. His hand quickly was placed back on top of hers and the car steadied itself back on the road.
She couldn't speak anymore. She wouldn't have know what to say even if she could. The only thing that she kept thinking in her head was, “who is this guy?”
“I'm your angel,” he replied as if he could hear what she was thinking...or could he?
Before she could say anything he said, “Yes, I can hear you.”
“I wish I could know your name.”
“Josiah.”
She pulled into the parking lot of the unusually empty Old Navy store and parked close to the entrance. She didn't want to get out. She didn't want to go get a new pair of jeans. She didn't want to even speak. She just wanted to stay there.
“Go ahead,” he spoke motioning for the store. “Have fun.”
His smile calmed her down.
“But what about you?” she asked. “Will you stay with me?”
White faceless figures appeared all around her, inside the car and out. At least eight surrounded her. Her mouth fell slightly open as she looked around and back at him.
“We've always been with you...and we always will be.”
Satisfied with the answer, she opened the door, turned off the car and stepped out into the warm sunlight. The burning returned on her exposed skin but quickly faded. She glanced over her shoulder and saw three of the angels with their wings spread high above her head, shading her from the sun.
She heard his voice speak one more time as they all faded from sight.
“We've got you.”
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