Distant Blue Memories

Distant Blue Memories

Joanie’s painful childhood still haunts her.  Plagued by flashbacks and sensitive to the clues of abuse, it’s easy for her imagination to conjure danger where it doesn’t exist - until one day she’s right.

Excerpt:

    I was leaning on the wall next to where Tom was replacing the trim for my door.

    “Are you sure of what you saw?”

    I rolled my head toward him, letting my expression speak for me.

    “Yeah, okay,” he said.

    “What do I do, Tom?”

    “Well, under normal circumstances, I’d say report him to the sheriff.”

    “Yeah, well, that won’t do much good will it?”

    “No, not in this small town.  Everyone loves him.”

    Our conversation stalled as he hammered some nails.  After trying the door a few times, he said, “You may need to replace the doorknob too.”

    “I can do that myself.  I appreciate your help, Tom.  And your ear.”

    He turned to face me.  “You’re gonna have to tell her mother.”

    “Yeah,” I said with a shaky breath.  “I know.”

    Tom wiped a tear off my cheek.  “I can go with you.”

    My heart swelled at the offer and a few more tears fell.  “I can’t ask that of you, Tom.  But it means a lot that you offered.”

    I helped him clean up the debris from the repair, all the while wondering how in the world I could tell someone I hardly knew that her husband was a child molester.

Author’s Note:

Distant Blue Memories is purely fiction, but I have personal experience to draw upon for the pain and torment haunting my character.  I know I am not alone in using art as therapy.

Also found in Prism:  Stories that Span the Spectrum.