September's Fawn
A Novel Of The South
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The fuzzy yellow glow slowly
evolved into a kerosene lamp. A moth tirelessly circled the sooted
globe, colliding repeatedly with the glass, probing incessantly for an avenue
to the gleaming wick. The tiny insect's shadow strobed
something within me to life, caused me to question how it and the light got
inside my head, how they figured into my dream. Surely I was dreaming. The
mortar shell had exploded on cue, and Henry began to pray as always, but the
lamp's sudden appearance was a puzzlement. Am I awake?
Answering my question was a sudden awareness of pain, excruciating pain in my
head and left leg. I commanded my eyes to close, and the light went away. But not the pain. I'm not dreaming, I thought. The pain is
too real to be part of a dream.
I opened my eyes. The lamp
reappeared, and the heavy timber from which it dangled came into focus. I
noticed a faint scent of magnolia, and a comforting
warmth hovering about me like an invisible friend. But mostly, I noticed the
pain.
"You awake?"
The voice was female, unfamiliar,
and served only to further my confusion. I turned my head to locate the
speaker, and the pain in my head intensified. I must be dreaming, I thought,
and was convinced of it when my eyes came to focus on the girl.
She sat in a rocker with her legs
drawn up, crossed beneath her. Her angelic face was expressionless, tan and too
perfect to exist outside a dream. Her long, dark hair, shimmering in the soft
glow of the lamp, matched perfectly the sparkling eyes that watched me without
blinking. Her sleeveless white dress was sheer, almost transparent, like gauze
or a very thin cotton, leaving little of her figure to
my imagination. Studying her, I marveled at having conjured a vision of such
perfection. Though surely not flesh and bone, her beauty far surpassed that of
any woman I had ever known, had ever seen. Despite the pain, I desperately
wanted the dream to continue.
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About the Book
Sometimes a story so captures our hearts that it becomes more than a story -- it becomes a memory to be cherished forever. September's Fawn is such a story, a poignant tale of love and loss set in the remote reaches of Florida's Big Bend region.
Cross City, Florida. 1999. Upon receiving a call from a man aspiring to be Florida's next governor, Josiah Moore is forced to disclose a dark secret he's harbored for decades: In 1952, as a rookie wildlife officer, Josiah entered a treacherous Dixie County swamp attempting to solve an ongoing mystery -- people of color were vanishing, and had been for years. He solved the mystery, but emerged an aged and broken man, a man having experienced a lifetime of both joy and sorrow in one tumultuous week. Now, almost a half century later, he must take this man who would be governor back into the swamp -- back to meet his remarkable mother.
About the Author
William Culyer Hall was born in Lakeland, Florida in 1947. After majoring in wildlife ecology at the University of Florida, he gleaned a wealth of life experience in a variety of professions: U.S. Navy submariner, technical instructor, field service engineer, high school cross country coach( Florida Coach of the Year in 88 and 89), and entrepreneur. He began free-lancing as an outdoor writer in 1997 and has published numerous feature articles and short stories. September's Fawn is his first novel. The father of four sons, he lives with his wife Cheryl in Rockledge, Florida.