Short Stories
STONE of TRUTH
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A MATTER of TASTE |
Excerpt
Lylia had tossed around the idea of Ben's infidelity far too long. Now the chance to receive some peace of mind was near. Little did Kysell suspect. She wouldn't know what hit her until Lylia presented her with the facts. Some people were friends, others were rivals. Lylia knew just what she intended to do to rectify that situation. Chapter One “Ever think of marrying again, Lylia?” Pencil-thin eyebrows furrowed in deep creases across Kysell’s damp forehead. “Never,” Lylia says. She stared at the light purple stone in the brooch that Kysell had pinned on her blouse below the left side of her thick, wrinkled neck. The one substituted stone was clearly exposed. At a glance, Lylia recognized Kysell had failed at an attempt to disguise it by replacing it with another similar jewel. The original had been a much deeper shade, as Lylia remembered. “Oh.” Kysell pressed her lips together, raised a fleshy hand laden with rings, and pressed a finger on the twitch beneath her left eye. “I think people who say never, may live to regret their decision. What are your thoughts?” Lylia lifted a soft hand and patted the stylish graying knot balanced perfectly at the nape of her neck. The thick hair Ben had once loved to bury his face in. Wispy tendrils fell softly around Lylia’s face that curled under the collar of her crisp powder-blue dress. Her thoughts were none of Kysell’s business. Yet here they were. Face to face. |
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https://tinyurl.com/vynt78j5Excerpt Sheriff Dillard turned a blind eye at Sonny Wilson's crime against Hannah, his young stepdaughter. Hannah's mother, too weakened by the cancer and on her deathbed, provided her with a solution. Hannah had no intention of pursuing her mother's way out. After her mother passes away, Hannah flees her stepfather's home and finds safety and comfort in the arms of her Gram. One a fateful day, thinking Sonny would be at work, Hannah returns to his home to pack her belongings. Will Sonny push Hannah over the edge? Will he force her to make a decision that will forever change her life? Chapter One Deep pink rose buds jutted from delicate Baby's Breath and draped Ellen Wilson’s casket like vintage lace. Hannah Sawyer found no beauty in the flowers today. An overwhelming sweet pungency traveled right down to the core of her already queasy stomach. She wanted to smash through the living petals and hold her mama. She couldn’t. While one of Hannah’s friends broke into the last verse of Amazing Grace, her mama’s favorite, Hannah wrapped chilled arms across her chest and leaned into the grief. The minister's calm voice bounced off the walls of the small chapel in Willow, Georgia. “The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want….” Sonny Wilson edged closer than necessary and pressed his hot, fleshy leg to hers. Hannah bit back a sob and slid from his nearness. What she wanted most was the demon sitting next to her blasted into Hell. “I will fear no evil….” Hannah found it difficult to concentrate on the minister who delivered a reading of the Twenty-third Psalm. Hannah arched her back and swung her blonde hair close to Sonny’s sweaty neck. “Move...your…leg,” she whispered. “In the presence of mine enemies….” A lock of Sonny's greasy brown hair fell across his ruddy forehead. In mockery, he leaned over as though to console, then slid a flabby arm around her shoulder. Only Hannah knew there was no comfort in him. Hell was too good for such a piece of garbage. But she wished him there. Even as his wife lay stilled by the cancer, Sonny was intent on impressing everyone at the funeral, in particular his friend, Sheriff Bob Dillard. Sonny dared to depict the grief-stricken husband, while he made an attempt to comfort his stepdaughter. Hannah knew better. She hated his deception. If it were the last thing she ever did, Sonny would be exposed for what he was. She’d see to it. |