Be sure to stop by my blog page on March 20th for the cover reveal of Opal's Song
Opal's Song
A horrific accident on a rain slicked mountainside and permanent
paralysis from the waist down. 25 year old Lily Wade has to relearn simple, everyday activities just
to live a seemingly normal life.
Opal—a precocious child in her rehabilitation group—teaches Lily about
living joyfully after surviving an immense tragedy and how to find peace within the pain.
To keep a promise made, Lily must dust off her once beloved cello and
connect with the music she’s kept locked inside a velvet lined case for nearly
a decade.
Opal's Song
an excerpt
"You know, it wouldn’t hurt for you to smile once in a while." Said the nurse at the foot of Lily’s bed.
Refusing to rise to the bait dangling in the air between them, Lily continued to ignore the woman with intimate knowledge of her body from the waist down. To respond would require some form of sentimental attachment and she didn’t want to feel anything. The nurse continued needling with barbed comments but nothing could penetrate the hardened shell around her emotional body.
"You're not dead." Disgust gave the harsh comment a cutting edge that would have sliced through most cynical hearts.
"Might as well be." Lily’s tone held as much life as a flat-lined EKG readout.
"Listen to you! With so many things to be grateful for, you'd rather drown yourself—and the ones who love you—in this dead sea of self pity." The woman pushed her advantage when she saw Lily’s nose flare in agitation. "No, you'd have to feel something for it to be pity. You should be ashamed for what you're putting your family through."
"What do I have to be grateful for?" Staring at the nurse through eyes that had become dark bottomless pools of emptiness, Lily dared the woman to speak her mind some more.
"You're alive for one thing."
"Barely." Mumbling beneath her breath, Lily glared at the useless legs that had become the bane of her existence.
"Alive enough that instead of mourning the loss of a beloved daughter, your family carries the guilty burden of your condition—a guilt that isn’t theirs to carry."
"You think it's mine?"
"No, it was a tragic accident, but one that could have been much worse."
"How can it get worse than this?" Youthful arms flung out to implicate limp limbs lying on a rumpled hospital bed.
"You are alive!" The nurse shouted as she stood at the foot of the bed. "You are healthy, have all your limbs, all your fingers, all your toes, all your senses, and all your mental faculties. The only thing holding you down is you." After covering Lily’s legs with a soft blanket the older woman left her alone with her thoughts.
Deep in the pit of her stomach an uncomfortable gurgle threatened to blossom into something more. Instead of exploring the new chink in her emotional armor, Lily turned on the television and zoned out.
About the Author
Living in the mountains of Western North
Carolina SJ Byrne is just trying to make her way through the insanity that
comes with creativity. Writing is her passion - life is her muse. Keep an eye
out for new books due later this year.
Connect with SJ via:
Read more about her books on:
No comments:
Post a Comment