Chapter 1: Escape from St. David’s
Goodbye
Her mom sat at the foot of Wylder’s gravesite at St. David’s, on the bench that her dad had made for her. Her mother didn’t cry… she didn’t yell… she just sat and stared at the fresh mound of dirt. Not a word from either of them. Dad’s hand on Mom’s shoulder, Mom’s hand on Dad’s hand.
“No,” Wylder said, incredulous, “this is not happening. Dad, can you hear me?” Wylder slumped to her knees, then sat on her heels staring at her mom’s feet. She gazed at the sky. “God, if you are there, you’ve got to fix this. There’s been some mistake. I have plans. I have a life to live. There has to be a way to undo this, right?” She waited for an answer, but none arrived. No bolt of lightning, no ominous voice from the clouds above. Wylder was numb. She lay on her back and glared at the empty blue sky. “I lost everything. I have nothing, not my family, not my horse, not my friends.”
Wylder closed her eyes and wished it all away. “This is just a bad dream. When I open my eyes, I will be in my bed, hot with fever, but alive and awake from this shitty nightmare.” Wylder said a little prayer, to who she did not know, and she opened her eyes. There was her mom; there was her dad.
Wylder stood and went to her mom. “Mom, I’m right here!” She waved her hand wildly in front of her mom’s face. “What the fuck is happening?” she yelled. “Answer me!”
“I cannot be dead, I can’t be. I refuse to accept this. Do you hear me?” she yelled to the sky with her fist in the air, but she knew. She looked back at her parents, heart breaking. Still, they never said a word. She imagined they were thinking of the life she might have had if things had been different. Her parents stood, and Wylder saw her mom forcing herself to be strong.
“Mom, don’t worry about me. I am going to be OK.”
They turned to go, and then they stepped right through her, and she knew for sure, she was dead.
Look for more chapters of “Escape from St. David’s” coming soon. The book can be found on Amazon.
