Full Circle on the Mountain
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I realized not all my tears that night were about Claire’s death, but about some of the regrets in my life, things I either didn’t resolve or couldn’t resolve. After I got it all out, Claire said to me, "Missy, I cain’t go on to my Maker unless I tells you some things. These things, I been keepin’ in my heart for quite some time now. I cain’t leave this world without a pure heart and I got some things to confess to you. Some of these things gonna be hard to hear and a lot of it you won’t understand right now, but when they come along in your life, you will remember what I have told you tonight. You best keep what I’m gonna say locked up in your heart, ‘cause you cain’t keep it from happenin’. If you go tryin’ to fix this or that or stand in the way of what is suppose to be, then you will cause more sorrow and destruction than you can handle. It’s best for everybody that things just take their course. That course been set, ain’t gonna change. You listen to old Claire now and you listen, good. I’m just the messenger and you know what they say about the messenger." "Yes, Claire, don’t shoot the messenger," I said almost laughing. "You remember years ago when we talked about my dreams?" "Yes, I remember, I came over to talk to you about Mark." "Uh-huh Mr. Matthews, he’s full of surprises to be sure. You’ll find out about that, on your own someday--when the decision is yours; right now, it ain’t concernin’ him. I told you, child, ‘bout a dream I had ‘bout a woman I seed comin’ to Deerfield to stay--permanent, long after I was gone." "Yes, I remember what you said." "Well, I just flat out lied, Missy. But now I got to tell you the truth ‘cause I cain’t go home with a lie in my heart. Besides, it weren’t time to tell you then--but it is now. You got the same gift I got--the knowin’. You ain’t learned how to use it quite yet, but it’s there just the same. I seed it all over you the day you stepped outta your car. I knew you were a comin’; I just didn’t know when. I know that you been feelin’ it in your soul for a long time and it’s been hard for you to understand it and what it all means, but it’s been a bringin’ you here all your life. It ain’t all been nice, never is. I don’t know all the details--truth ain’t got no details--truth is just the truth. You been lookin’ for the truth for a long time now, but you have been wastin’ your time. Listen to me, Missy: if you expose the lie then the truth will be revealed. Ain’t that what you want?" I started to cry. Claire was, I was sure, about to expose the lie in my life, but she had a wheezing spell and I helped her suppress it with some water and a pillow adjustment. I begged her to stop not only because I feared that if she continued to talk she might get worse, but because I simply did not want to hear any more. "We’ll talk some tomorrow, Claire," I said. "You’ve got to rest now. You’ve over-done it." "I ain’t got no tomorrow," she said, "but you do and I plan to see that you realize it and stay true to what you already know if it takes my last dying breath. Now, you know that I love Mr. Jonathan and Miss Samantha like they was my own." "I know that, Claire." "I wouldn’t let nothin’ in the world hurt them if I could stop it. This ain’t none of my business, it’s a deeper revelation than I cared to know, but the gift I got that works in me done showed it to me and for that reason I gots the responsibility for it. You remember that in the future, too, Missy. Along with the knowin’ comes responsibility." "What is it that you know, Claire, and how do you know?" "I ain’t sure; like I told you years ago--I just know things, been this way since I was thirteen, knowin’ things nobody else did. It’s a heavy burden sometimes, but I learnt to live with it and you got to learn how, too. I was confused at first ‘cause I kept seein’ Mr. Jonathan with two wives. The day you stepped outta the car, I knew you were that other wife."
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About the Book
Do you believe a personal destiny exists for each of us? If it were possible to catch a glimpse of that destiny, would you have the courage, faith and strength of heart to follow it? What would be the cost, and what would have to be lain on the altar of sacrifice? FULL CIRCLE on the MOUNTAIN answers those questions with a powerful and insightful journey into one woman’s personal destiny. Claudette Elizabeth McAllister grew up a young woman, in rural South Carolina in the fifties, the daughter of a farmer and his bakery shop attendant wife. She was an ordinary girl, with ordinary dreams of going to college and pursuing a career in accounting. Destiny, however, used those dreams to choose another path for her. A presumed "chance meeting" with handsome, educated, and wealthy, Johnny Richardson would change her life and set her on a course with destiny which would not rest until she came full circle with it some twenty years later. In the early sixties, fate, in disguise as a life-threatening experience drives her back to her hometown. There she must face the reality of a son born out of wedlock, the tragic accident that killed her best friend and the realization that her life was somehow being orchestrated by forces beyond her control. Forces that continually required her to sacrifice and endure what seemed impossible for the human spirit. FULL CIRCLE on the MOUNTAIN is a journey along her path of people, places and events which would not only direct and shape her destiny, but weave its threads deeply into an entire family, unaware they too were a part of the great tapestry of this simple woman. " A rare and powerful combination of: entertainment, insight, wisdom and truth." Henri Forget, free-lance editor.
About the Author
Linda Gardner is an avid seeker of truth and divine destiny. She believes that people, places, events and circumstances; whether they are joyous or tragic experiences come into our lives for a divine reason. Each experience is a road sign to a greater destiny and unique calling. Her quest in seeking her personal destiny began to unfold as she wrote her first novel, Full Circle on the Mountain. She began to write short stories, poems and prose at the age of twelve, dreaming of writing a novel some day, but put aside her passion for writing to marry, raise a family and pursue a career. Many years, two grown children and two grandchildren later that passion for writing began to tug at her heart once more and in April of 1998, she acknowledged that call. Like her character in Full Circle, she too was being called back to a destiny she had walked away from. She is currently working on an autobiography, titled: Breathing in the Spirit: Exhaling All of Creation. This will be a documented journey of visions, revelations, teachings and insights into her personal destiny and her awareness of our connection to all of creation. Linda, a native of North Carolina currently resides in Wesley Chapel, Florida with her husband Ron, and faithful Chow, Onyx. She is a member of LifeLong Writers, a membership arm of the Florida Center for Writers at the University of South Florida, and a member of the International Women’s Writing Guild.