A Hellion of a Heroine

I want to make it clear that I had a happy childhood with two loving parents, so I have no idea why an abused, motherless little girl named Jaycee chose to take up residence in my head and demand that I tell her story. But if you read my second novel Different Roads, you'll understand why I couldn't ignore her.

The video above does a pretty good job of describing Jaycee's story, but I chose six sentences to illustrate a little more of what made her grow up to be such a hellion and sent her down the road that ultimately saved her. This scene takes place while Jaycee is still in high school, and she forgets to leave on a light so she won't come home to a dark house.

And once again I'm extremely grateful that I've always liked exceptionally long sentences!

She counted to ten, then she turned the knob and pushed open the door in one swift motion, running with her eyes closed after all. She’d thought she knew the exact location of every piece of worn-out furniture in the living room, but she forgot the gym bag she’d left in front of the couch and tripped over it at a full run, ending up sprawled in the middle of the floor with the breath knocked out of her.

Heedless of the pain in her chest and lungs, she scrambled across the floor on her hands and knees, the nightmare returning in a vivid rush. She couldn’t see anything, but she knew something horrible was there, hurting her with its monster hands as it got ready to eat her at any second. She curled herself into a ball and sobbed in terror and desolation, a six year old once again with no one to comfort her, wishing with all her might that her daddy would come and save her.

But he didn’t come, and Jaycee stayed that way until the room filled with the gray light of dawn.

"Hope Chest," the short story mentioned in the video, can be found here, and you can buy Different Roads here. Please also check out the other Six Sentencers, especially my BFF Lee Ann Ward.

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!