A Mother For Emily, is about a woman who can’t have children who encounters a desperate and homeless teen mom who is about to walk away from the child she can’t afford, is my newest short story.
I am shooting toward having it on kindle by May 24 and it will be FREE for at least 3 days so I can get some eyeball traffic and word of mouth generated.. AFTER THAT... all proceeds from the sale of this particular story will go toward local Cleveland charities. IN fact, a portion of the sales from all my books have always been earmarked for charity- so the more books I sell the more people will benefit-
Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from the story.......
They stood in the short line and bought two coffees. After getting the change, Catherine picked out a table near a window away from the handful of other’s who were already enjoying their refreshments.
Once seated, the girl sat in her chair and stared out the window at the passing foot traffic.
“So, what’s your first name?”
“Lynn.”
“I’m Catherine. Okay, listen, as I said before, I think I might have a solution to your problem.”
“I doubt that,” Lynn said as she sipped at her coffee.
“Well, at least hear me out. I might be able to help you. First of all, who’s Jerry?”
“A lying son of a bitch who dumped me,” Lynn said with a degree of indifference. “And the father of my little girl.”
For a moment, as Catherine sipped at her coffee, she imagined that Lynn would be willing to trade places with any one of the people walking past the window. “You could take him to court. There laws that side with women.”
“ He knows full well I haven’t got the money for a lawyer,” Lynn said.
“Maybe we don’t have to go that route.”
Hearing this, Lynn’s attention slowly turned from the world outside the window to the coffee cup before her and after that, her eyes settled on Catherine’s. She looked as if she was ready to listen.
Taking a deep breath, Catherine revealed her own problem. “I’ve been trying to get pregnant for over a year. Doctor says that it doesn’t look good, and we’ll have to adopt if we want a child.”
“My problem,” Lynn scoffed angrily, her green eyes drilling into Catherine’s, “is that I fell in love and in one moment of passion, had an accident and now I have a kid that costs money. My family, the few I have, won’t speak to me and the man I fell in love with got scared and is ready to move on and I need a job. If I had a babysitter I’d have the time to look for a job and yet I flunked out of high school so there’s that. Now, one solution is that I could shack up with the landlord who owns the building my roommates kicked me out of a few days ago. In fact he seemed quite eager to show me the spare bedroom in his place. But then again, he’s old enough to be my grandfather.”
Catherine’s eyes narrowed at the comment and she leaned back in her chair trying to breathe, as if Lynn’s story had sucked all of the oxygen from the room.
“While that particular solution would help me out short term,” Lynn said between sips, “ I’m sure it wouldn’t work out long term and in a few months, I’d be right back to square one.”
“I know you’re in a tough spot,” Catherine said. “I figured that out from the bits and pieces I over heard in the library.”
Lynn looked worn out as she leaned back in the chair. “So, okay, Mary Poppins. Whip up a solution from your purse and hand me a happy ending.”
Catherine smiled at this as she sipped at her coffee and leaned forward. As she did so, she motioned for Lynn to lean forward as well. “I don’t think it’s quite that simplistic but you have the right idea.”
Curious, Lynne kept her hands around the coffee she held and leaned forward.
Catherine took a deep breath and whispered, “I want to buy Emily from you.”
End of excerpt
I am shooting toward having it on kindle by May 24 and it will be FREE for at least 3 days so I can get some eyeball traffic and word of mouth generated.. AFTER THAT... all proceeds from the sale of this particular story will go toward local Cleveland charities. IN fact, a portion of the sales from all my books have always been earmarked for charity- so the more books I sell the more people will benefit-
Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from the story.......
They stood in the short line and bought two coffees. After getting the change, Catherine picked out a table near a window away from the handful of other’s who were already enjoying their refreshments.
Once seated, the girl sat in her chair and stared out the window at the passing foot traffic.
“So, what’s your first name?”
“Lynn.”
“I’m Catherine. Okay, listen, as I said before, I think I might have a solution to your problem.”
“I doubt that,” Lynn said as she sipped at her coffee.
“Well, at least hear me out. I might be able to help you. First of all, who’s Jerry?”
“A lying son of a bitch who dumped me,” Lynn said with a degree of indifference. “And the father of my little girl.”
For a moment, as Catherine sipped at her coffee, she imagined that Lynn would be willing to trade places with any one of the people walking past the window. “You could take him to court. There laws that side with women.”
“ He knows full well I haven’t got the money for a lawyer,” Lynn said.
“Maybe we don’t have to go that route.”
Hearing this, Lynn’s attention slowly turned from the world outside the window to the coffee cup before her and after that, her eyes settled on Catherine’s. She looked as if she was ready to listen.
Taking a deep breath, Catherine revealed her own problem. “I’ve been trying to get pregnant for over a year. Doctor says that it doesn’t look good, and we’ll have to adopt if we want a child.”
“My problem,” Lynn scoffed angrily, her green eyes drilling into Catherine’s, “is that I fell in love and in one moment of passion, had an accident and now I have a kid that costs money. My family, the few I have, won’t speak to me and the man I fell in love with got scared and is ready to move on and I need a job. If I had a babysitter I’d have the time to look for a job and yet I flunked out of high school so there’s that. Now, one solution is that I could shack up with the landlord who owns the building my roommates kicked me out of a few days ago. In fact he seemed quite eager to show me the spare bedroom in his place. But then again, he’s old enough to be my grandfather.”
Catherine’s eyes narrowed at the comment and she leaned back in her chair trying to breathe, as if Lynn’s story had sucked all of the oxygen from the room.
“While that particular solution would help me out short term,” Lynn said between sips, “ I’m sure it wouldn’t work out long term and in a few months, I’d be right back to square one.”
“I know you’re in a tough spot,” Catherine said. “I figured that out from the bits and pieces I over heard in the library.”
Lynn looked worn out as she leaned back in the chair. “So, okay, Mary Poppins. Whip up a solution from your purse and hand me a happy ending.”
Catherine smiled at this as she sipped at her coffee and leaned forward. As she did so, she motioned for Lynn to lean forward as well. “I don’t think it’s quite that simplistic but you have the right idea.”
Curious, Lynne kept her hands around the coffee she held and leaned forward.
Catherine took a deep breath and whispered, “I want to buy Emily from you.”
End of excerpt
