Soul Searching
by
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The sound of her name being called might have drifted past her and become another distant memory had it not been screamed with a fervor that rang dismay through her. Bess looked up to see Carrie running toward her, the same dismay seeping from her pores. "Carrie, what?" she asked, leaving the comfort of the wall behind. Carrie stopped when her hands came to rest on Bess’s shoulders. She tried to catch her breath for a moment and then changed her mind. "It’s Lucy," she sputtered. A deep draw of air. "You have to come." "What about Lucy?" Bess’s voice was amplified by the fear that pushed her words out. Carrie’s answer was the sharp clasp of her hand around Bess’s wrist. They were running. Bess had the odd sensation of the house looming before them, hiding some terrible secret that everyone seemed to know except her. Carrie was yelling to the five or six-deep circle of people in front of them, telling them to get out of the way. There was no resistance. A separation was created that made a tunnel of Biblical proportion. Behind Carrie, Bess could see the tunnel opened to a cleared area where she could see their friend Brenda leaning over someone’s very still body. The sounds of sirens grew steadily in the distance. Bess felt the air become thick and foreboding. The tunnel of bodies seemed to grow longer. The surrounding sounds became muffled and elongated. She had stopped breathing at the sight of Brenda. Now as they reached the open space, she pushed Carrie aside and fell hard to her knees beside Lucy’s motionless body. "This is it," she thought, "she’s finally passed out from exhaustion." In those seconds, Bess would have given anything for Lucy to have collapsed from exhaustion because she knew it wasn’t true. Lucy wasn’t moving. Brenda’s eyes sent their silent message as they locked on Bess in an upswing. Bess’s mind took these things in slow motion. Brenda’s actions were confusing and she said nothing. And then time caught up. The silence of the crowd was torn apart by the rustling electricity of the paramedics pushing their way toward them. Brenda counted as her body tilted back and forth, applying and relaxing pressure to Lucy’s chest. "I’m a doctor," she said to the feet of the paramedics. She was barking orders as her body tilted back, relieving the force again. And then Lucy did something she hadn’t done for over ninety seconds – she breathed.
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About the Book
Part new age novel, part love story, Soul Searching drives the vehicle of reincarnation over the roads of relationships, love and intimacy. Bess Stokes searches for a missing connection in her journey through life. From her twin brother, to lovers, to the love of her life, she struggles to understand the complexities of relationships. And then she meets someone whose connection she can neither explain nor deny. Soul Searching is a story of possibilities, trust, commitment, betrayal and re-building that adds a new twist to the concept of soul mates.
About the Author
Mary Roper lives in Seattle and is an owner and operator of retirement and assisted living facilities. Her first novel, Soul Searching, launches a second generation of writers, as she follows in the footsteps of her author father, L.V. Sam Roper, Jr. After years of examining the successes and failures of human interaction and the roles of both love and intimacy in relationships, Ms. Roper has woven an epic adventure into the lives of her characters. Mary is sincerely grateful to the many friends and acquaintances who endured her "exploration of intimacy" questions and told their stories. She also lovingly acknowledges the invaluable editing of Kathleen Roper, L.V. Sam Roper III, Anne Bounds, Stacy Brodzik, and Pat Cavitt, without which this work would never have been a reality.