EPILOGUE
She sat in the old rocker by the cold cook-stove reading. A warm September breeze drifted in through an open window, bringing with it the scent of the honeysuckle that now grew by the sliding glass door. She closed the old, well-worn journal and set it down, the tears pooling in her dark hazel eyes. Oh, how sad her grandmother had been. She searched her pocket for a hanky, cloth of course; there’d been no paper tissues in a very long time, but she did remember them.
Emilee, now twenty-five, lovingly stroked the smooth cover of the brown leather book her Nahna had faithfully kept for many years. There would be time to continue reading. She knew there was more written, much more beyond the five months that she had just finished reading about. She wiped her tears, shed in sympathy for the heartache her grandmother had felt at the time, but also knowing that Grandpa John had come back to Nahna a month later, unable to stay away from the woman he loved.
Emi stood and stretched the kinks out of her back. She’d been sitting in one place too long, especially after hours of working in the garden. It would be a good crop this year; Nahna would be pleased. Her heart clenched.
Her Nahna had passed away three weeks ago.
She glanced once more at the journal. Yes, there would be time to read more of Nahna’s life later. What a life it was. Emi knew, since she was there.
About the Author
Even as a teenager, Deborah was always writing, whether it was short stories, poetry or journal entries. She has promised to someday dig those notebooks out to see how far she has come.
Having grown up in Detroit, the kid of a cop, Deborah realized she really disliked city living and gravitated to the country in her early twenties. From there, after her sons were grown and on their own, she made the big step of moving to the woods and living off grid.
It was the many years of having to prepare for deep and snowy winters that gave her the knowledge and experience to give her characters the same expertise.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Finale
Epilogue
About the Author
The Journal: Cracked Earth Page 31
