Chpater One

February 18, 2013

Special Promotion Free on Amazon.com until the 20^th – hurry to get your free copy and make sure to leave a review!! 

Behind the Scenes:

With the free promotion, there have been 80+ units downloaded.  Thank you!

Since we are getting closer to the first 100 downloads, I wanted to put the first chapter here.  I look forward to hearing (reading) what people think.  I

Chapter One:  Ole’ Soul

The memory was overwhelming, I awoke feeling shocked and adrenaline coursing through my entire body, it felt as though my arms were on fire when I bolted awake… safe within my bed, I was home.

                This was the first occurrence of this dream, a time I didn’t know, a place I didn’t recognize.  Plus I didn’t know who or what shocked me awake and sent the electrical vibrations coursing through my body!  I couldn’t move for what seemed like minutes, continually befalling upon my motionless state.

Focusing on the bedroom clock the digital numbers read 3:45.  Immobile, I fixated upon the ceiling above me and thought about the dream; a dream unlike any other I had ever experienced. 

This transition in thought quarried recognition of feeling, my body started recognizing itself.  First my feet, aggravating and uncomfortable feeling; the pings and pangs as if they had ‘fallen asleep’.  Slowly the pricking, stinging, and tight sensation continued slowly, working through out.  The pings and pangs seemed the worst when it reached the arm that was grabbed, it felt like a cool burning.  The scariest part was that I didn’t know what was going on! 

Uncontrollably I had fallen back asleep without knowing I had and awaken when my alarm went off at 5:45 (a.m.); just like any other day.

I wouldn’t have this dream again for months…  I had easily written it off as a dream.  I went on to dream of other things, like being on a deserted island, growing up in a faraway land…  Basically of things I didn’t know about, but could think and daydream (or in this case ‘night’ dream) as my mind would relax and drift swiftly off.

Here I was again… the deserted street… its night time, its dark but there are fires that illuminate my surroundings; oranges and colors of the sun setting on a hot summer day. The light seemed to come in quick intervals and then the night would surround you again. 

Warmth from the flames would make quick contact; but the dark night air was cold, chilly – quite an uncomfortable feeling… I was surrounded and it felt threatening.  Quite sporadically you could glimpse fire licking outside of its earthly dungeon, trying desperately to make a quick escape. 

 With my eyes, I see the cracks in the pavement and earth all around, not the orderly suburbia that once was intact and vital.  Now it lay tattered and torn, dirty and disastrous, much like before.  The dreams seemed the same, similar elements, yet slight differences that would make the experience feel so real. 

There was a lot to process visually, the trees I felt sorrowful for – they seemed out of place in some way.  As if this was something they were having to witness and endure.  

There was a big maple within reach, and standing erect; in slow motion I brought my shaking hand up, and placed it gently upon the bark of the huge tree… as if I could heal what ails this tree… but I couldn’t help feeling, empathy. 

I lowered my head and closed my eyes, imagining what this street… what this tree might witness on another day… a better day: 

 

The sun, bright with the enjoyment of roots spreading, growing and laying home in this earth’s dirt.  A feeling, resembling a good seven inning stretch came over me.  I could see the deep bedded roots. The delight in feeling the warmth of the sun, glistening upon my leaves, similar to the sensation of taking a nice warm bath; all this to gain what I need to grow and strengthen.  Suddenly the wind swirled viciously, sucking the air from the living.  The sky grew dark – I felt like I was suffocating, it was a nauseating feeling.  There was a huge clap of lighting that shook the ground, my roots shook with it and I felt numb and terrified.  Where the lighting licked the earth, I could barely make out the being that materialized and stood still, frozen in time.  The earth continued to shake and I could feel my stomach, lurching from deep within to my throat.  The earth began to split open and everything seemed to self-combust… looking more closely, the being was me!

 

A sensation, similar to the wind being sucked out, wiped everything out.  My head came to an abrupt alert, and my eyes flashed open… back to the horrific scene at hand.  The warmth and joy replaced by sorrow and fear.  How could that be plausible?

My hand now was off of the tree, and only an inch apart from where it had been seconds previously, no longer connected to this ole’ soul.  The wind had indeed picked up and was now gusting; the trees branches billowed with the swirling air, encircling where I was rooted.  The terror inside began to invade and I felt like I was a remorseful villain.

The ole’ soul before me swayed in response, the bottom of the tree might have been stationary but the top seemed to be thrashing around as if performing some sort of primal dance.  Just then there was a rumble below… the sound I could not describe… other than a large animal’s throaty growl.  I could also hear electrical and material pops and rupture - the aftermath of destruction.

The ground started to move, I could feel the vibrations under my feet, making the ground beneath me tremble in retaliation.  There was a smaller tree that I saw, and the ground started to split, opening about fifteen feet in front of me.  Underneath and all around this fallen tree (I couldn’t identify what kind of tree it was, but it was petite and dainty looking). 

The ground beneath us continued with its tremors.  Pieces of rubble were dancing on the ground, falling into cracked surface.  The dainty tree was mimicking the spasm movements, shaking… then it started to fall into the fractured earth, my lower body was dangling off of a section of the earth that was slanted, I was digging my hands into the shocked earth trying to get a grip.  There was an exposed root protruding beside me, from the sturdy ole’ soul that I had moments before felt so much a part of.  I grabbed the root and continued to pull myself up.

The trunk of the dainty tree fell into the opening; the mouth of the ground beneath, like the mouth of a hideous beast.  She went head first, upward out of the ground, displaying her roots in defeat.   

There was water pouring into the opening from pipes that had been placed within the earth, that now were broken, and swimming into the depths. I glimpsed and saw through the billowing flames, encompassing me, ensnaring everything within its path.  Quickly, the disastrous scene had turned into a mud-like quicksand and finished consuming the tree; it escaped within the broken depths, into the murky substance, defenseless against the rage.  It felt as though the earth was at war within itself; curatively coordinating the removal of the unnatural remains that tainted the surface.

 

My attention to the action was disturbed.  For what reason I don’t know, my sight was temporarily distorted.  Smells flooded my nose and actually felt like the pain from a sinus irritation. I shifted my stance and moved to the right, my senses slowly returned and I could see past the big maple - the house… the one that was slightly recognizable to me… somehow I remembered this house? But I didn’t know from where. 

The black door of this pale yellow home was ajar… intriguing.

 

Until the next time, or the next… dream.

K.E.Nowinsky