Chapter Four Sample

I dream about my mother and Soren and Toom. A jumble of images as all dreams are. Faces I don't recognize, some I do. Crying and angry and laughing and doing what faces in dreams do, some that make sense and some that don't. I dream of crawling because I can't run and opening doors that won't stay open. There are snapping sounds and my brother snorting beside me. I try to turn to him. Be quiet. They'll hear us, but I can't move and he won't stop. Toom is in front of me, glaring and he raises his hand. The smack to my face doesn't hurt, but it's loud enough to wake me. The fire is nearly out.

Chapter Three Sample

The tips of my fingers trace the spherical pattern of rings across the top of the stump as I wait for Soren to return. Toom says the rings inside a tree trunk will reveal the age of the tree that stood atop it, if you have the patience to count them. ... The number of rings had been tallied long ago, by Soren and I, when he was three and I was teaching him how to count, but until today, I never thought about the significance of it all. Before today, they were just rings on a tree marking the passing of cycles. In reality this tree had been guardian of the past, keeper of memories and secrets, but this guardian was finished watching the day it was taken for fuel and lumber. As a seed, the tree didn't decide where to be planted. As a sapling, it didn't decide how it would grow or what its role in life would be or when it would end. Maybe that's the way my life is suppose to be, someone else deciding my fate.

Chapter Two Sample

I stop dabbing the bloody gash on her cheek and sit back in the slatted chair. It groans in agony under my slight frame. My mother's face seems tired. Her rosy skin sags in places, and the gray eyes that used to flash with emotion have lost their sparkle. She takes my lean hand in hers, calloused and gaunt, her fingers weightless as wisps.

Chapter One Sample

My mother cries out, and I have to pin my brother down to keep him from going to her. My first instinct is to run to her myself, but I know she'd want me to keep Soren safe. A few loud crashes, the tossing of items about to frighten her and whoever is nearby, and after, silence. I wait until the dull heavy sound of boots and rustling of robes recedes before releasing my brother. In a single movement, he is off the ground and rushes to the house before I can get to my feet.

Excerpt from Chapter One

A hand is laid on my shoulder. He rarely touches me, and for the few brief seconds that he does, I want to bury my face in his chest and ask him to rock me. Silly. Fifteen and needing to be comforted.