The book:
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Vestige is the first book
in a two book series.
"This is the first book in a two book series. This book contains
strong language that may be offensive to some."
The Sneak Peek:
By the time the lunch bell rang, Micah was
certain that everyone had chilled, so he made his way to the school courtyard
and to their usual table. As he approached his friends, he could see that Jess
was crying, and then he noticed Dustin’s arm draped around her shoulder.
“Hey Jess...What’s going on?” Micah put his
hand on her shoulder and pushed Dustin’s arm off.
Dustin grinned at Micah. “Just comforting
your girlfriend...”
“Jess...seriously...what’s wrong?” Micah
wedged himself between Jess and Dustin, forcing Dustin to slide over several
inches.
“My family...my little brother and sisters
are gone. The police think some cult kidnapped them...all of them.” Jess buried
her face into Micah’s shoulder and continued her sobbing. “Oh Micah, what am I
going to do? This is the worst day of my entire life.”
Micah put his arm around Jess and kissed
the top of her pink head. “So...I guess we’re not babysitting.”
Jess stopped crying, lifted her head, and
glared at Micah. She pushed his arm away, picked up her things, and marched
off. Amber shot Micah a disgusted look and ran after her friend.
“Smooth,” Cody said.
“What? I didn’t mean anything by it. I just
wanted to know,” replied Micah.
“Yeah right, jackass,” Dustin said. “You
just wanted to know if you were still going to get some. Don’t you care about
anyone but yourself?” Dustin smirked.
“What makes you think Micah’s getting any?
This kid is still a virgin. Isn’t that right, Micah,” mocked Cody.
“It’s none of your business,” said Micah.
“Jess tells Amber everything, and Amber
tells me everything,” said Cody.
Micah tried to change the subject. “Are we
going to the park after school today?”
“Nah, man. I have to look for my dog,” Cody
said. “He ran away or something. He’s been missing since last night. I let him
out around 8:00, and when I went to let him back in, he was gone. I bet my dad
left the gate open on purpose. He hates that dog.”
“That’s weird. My neighbor’s dog ran away
too,” Dustin added. “He was yellin’ that dog’s name all night,
‘Daphne...Daphne.... Where are you girl?’ What a douche. I didn’t sleep at
all.”
“I saw a lady looking for her dog this
morning,” Micah said.
“Maybe the same cult that took Jess’s
little brother and sisters took all the dogs too.” Dustin laughed.
Micah thought about the dog from his dream.
It was still so clear. It seemed as if it had actually happened. He could
almost feel the pressure of the dog’s teeth on his hand. He looked down at his
open palm and gasped at the sight of two small bruises. Were those teeth marks?
He turned his hand over and saw a matching pair on the opposite side. At first,
Micah stared at the marks in disbelief, but then he thought about his hasty
departure that morning. He must have grabbed a rough piece of wood or scratched
himself on a nail.
“Let’s meet at the park tomorrow morning,”
concluded Cody. “Micah, did you hear me?”
Micah snapped back to reality. “Yeah,
sure...park...tomorrow morning.”
“Wanna ditch?” Since Micah wasn’t going to
see Jess after school, he wanted to skip an afternoon of total boredom. He
couldn’t stand the thought of sitting in the auditorium for another three
hours.
“Nah, me and Amber are in the library
together. She’ll be pissed if I ditch without her,” replied Cody.
“I’m in the cafeteria.” Dustin looked at
Micah. “Jess is too.”
“Asshole,” Micah muttered.
“You’re on your own, Micah.” Cody stood and
headed towards the school. Dustin gave Micah one last smirk and followed Cody.
“Fine.” As Micah slinked away in the other
direction, he wondered where he should go. He couldn’t go home, and since he
only had a fiver, he couldn’t hang out at the arcade. He eventually settled on
the park.
Ever since Micah was a kid, he loved the
park. It was just so…ordinary—an ordinary place where ordinary parents played
with their ordinary kids. It became his refuge from the crazy. He would watch
these ordinary people and take mental pictures, and these pictures would
sustain his daydreams for as long as he needed them to do so. These people gave
him hope that maybe one day he might have an ordinary family of his own.
The author:
Deb lives with her husband and three teenagers in
the Chicagoland burbs. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a
B.S. in Chemistry, she worked at a nuclear power plant for five years. She then
left her career to stay at home with her kids.
Seemingly, overnight, she went from being
crazy-busy to having way too much time on her hands. With her husband working
long hours and her kids pursuing their own lives, she decided to write that novel
she always wanted to write. Vestige is her second novel.
Hi Rea,
ReplyDeleteThanks for featuring my book on your blog!
Deb