Alternate universes
Currently Gracious Mysteries, the second novel in my That Which Can Be Remembered series, is available at no cost on Smashwords during their annual End of Year Sale. I had planned to release the final book in the series to immediately coincide with the sale, but I am still away from home and hope to have That Which Can Be Remembered released perhaps on Saturday? Fingers crossed for that publication. This series does take place in a different.... Universe, planet, solar system, you make the call, however their tragedies and triumphs are closely aligned to what we on Earth experience. There is no moon attached to their planet, which isn't a major plot point, but something I paid attention to while writing when a character trekked outside to admire the night skies. Only stars shone, proffering a distinction between our world and that of Brynn, Pollette, Finn, Strivek, Timral, Mo, and the rest.
This past week while staying at my daughter's home has been a sliver of living in an alternate realm, and I'm sure she feels the same, having traveled to the Midwest to support family enduring their own version of.... I'm not sure hell is applicable, because one so loved is still living. Yet for his wife, immediate family, and those of us in the extended circle, hell applies not merely for the pain and suffering they have known since cancer was diagnosed earlier this year, but the uncertainty of what happens next. Next has been counted not in weeks or even days, but segments of time so small that afternoons are wholly changed from what occurred in the morning. Wait and see is the mantra to which we all cling; treatments are proffered, then rescinded, then again placed on the schedule while one aptly called the sweetest human pops in and out of consciousness, that of slumber and his own mind. For thirty years I have enjoyed the extreme privilege of knowing this marvelous soul, someone I assumed I would grow old alongside, and maybe I will. Miracles occur, but again it's all about wait and see.
The Possibility of What If begins with the worst of circumstances; a life ends and those left behind are struck by engulfing sorrow, crushing bewilderment, and the hollow sense of what now? Yet the title suggests another option, which opens a door to a different future, which Brynn, Mirella and Ava eagerly choose, while Pollette and Finn remain skeptical. It's hard to have hope when one's heart has been trampled so thoroughly, yet hope is all my family has right now, that our beloved will somehow emerge from this illness, that his wife can remain strong, that all of us tender our hearts to one another and to the possibility of.... A world so changed, regardless of what happens next. In this season of joyful expectation, I pray for healing, wholeness, and peace not only for my clan, but yours as well. And that love fills us with the necessary strength and hope to wait and see.
