Deer Falls, Volume 1
Autumn hates her mother and the poverty they live in. She is ashamed of both but her hate defines her. If only her mother would tell her about her father or at least his name! When Autumn’s mother needs surgery, she opts to care for her rather than go to a foster home. It is during this time she finds her mother’s journals and her father. This reversal of mother/daughter roles renders insight to both sides of their relationship. Chris’s twin brother is murdered. He battles grief and doubts of his own sanity due to seeing and hearing his dead brother. He struggles with the transition from ‘Chris n Craig’ to ‘Just Chris’. It is the nightmares that finally reveal the awful truth. Ian is brutally abused by his alcoholic father. He develops empathic tendencies from being constantly alert to his father’s moods. He stays in a cave when things get really bad. Ian’s ability gets him into trouble with the law when he rescues a girl from being raped. It is then that Ian fears he is turning into his father. These three teens each find their way through unavoidable circumstances that life throws their way. Through these difficulties, they learn what is important to them, realize their own potential and who they are in the world.
Autumn hates her mother and the poverty they live in. She is ashamed of both but her hate defines her. If only her mother would tell her about her father or at least his name! When Autumn’s mother needs surgery, she opts to care for her rather than go to a foster home. It is during this time she finds her mother’s journals and her father. This reversal of mother/daughter roles renders insight to both sides of their relationship.
Chris’s twin brother is murdered. He battles grief and doubts of his own sanity due to seeing and hearing his dead brother. He struggles with the transition from ‘Chris n Craig’ to ‘Just Chris’. It is the nightmares that finally reveal the awful truth.
Ian is brutally abused by his alcoholic father. He develops empathic tendencies from being constantly alert to his father’s moods. He stays in a cave when things get really bad. Ian’s ability gets him into trouble with the law when he rescues a girl from being raped. It is then that Ian fears he is turning into his father.
These three teens each find their way through unavoidable circumstances that life throws their way. Through these difficulties, they learn what is important to them, realize their own potential and who they are in the world.
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<strong>Deer</strong> <strong>Falls</strong><br />
"Well, no more than you having to live in the same house with me."<br />
"Touché."<br />
Mom heaps our plates full, and we both eat like starved hounds, throwing all etiquette and<br />
manners out the window.<br />
Mom pushes her plate away and smiles with a contented look on her face. She's happy. She<br />
could possibly not wake up from surgery tomorrow morning, but she's happy. It is evidence of her<br />
strength and courage. I am struck by it.<br />
With a smirk on her face, Mom says, "You know, Autumn, I got to snoop in your locker today<br />
when I went to get your books and assignments."<br />
"Yeah? Too bad it was only the first day of school, you didn't get to see my playgirl pin-ups."<br />
Mom laughs. "What is it with that secretary? Talk about the third degree! She acted like she<br />
was my mother. Oh, before I forget, if you need help with your homework you can call and talk to<br />
your teachers when they aren't in class."<br />
"Well, that's not gonna happen. I wouldn't know how to sound. Stuffy nose? Raspy voice?<br />
Dead?" No sooner than it leaves my mouth, I realize what I've said.<br />
We both turn quiet.<br />
"Well," Mom says, cutting through the atmosphere that my blunder has caused, "I better get<br />
some things packed."<br />
I watch her grab a red plastic bag with hard plastic handles on it from the bag drawer. "The<br />
Riley suitcase," she says smiling. I see that the advertisement on the bag has worn off.<br />
"Very Vogue," I agree and smile.<br />
While she packs, I clean up the kitchen. I pull out the Riley Tupperware, which are empty<br />
margarine tubs, and scoop portions of spaghetti in them for freezing.<br />
I think back on the day. I feel like I've dug myself out from under a mountain, but now I still<br />
have to climb it. I think of how different my life is going to be. No school means that I don't have<br />
to worry at all about school clothes. By the time I go back, the newness of the clothes topic will be<br />
over. It's a silly, tiny relief, but relief just the same. Also, I won't be seeing Ian Taylor. He probably<br />
won't survive the bombardment of female hormones. Maybe he'll forget that he ever sat next to<br />
me in World History. Maybe by the time I return, my seat will be full, then I can avoid questions,<br />
explanations and his girlfriend's perfume clinging to him.<br />
Knock it off, Autumn! You chose to lay these bricks in Mom's prison wall. You chose to cut<br />
yourself off for a while. No self-pity allowed! You will do this, and with no regrets.<br />
My thoughts go to Mom being on the phone with the doctor's office. The doctor's business<br />
card was laying on the coffee table, its edges curled and creased. Evidence of Mom's nervousness<br />
and fear. Then it hit me. She called in sick to work because she was waiting for the results from<br />
the doctor. Waiting to see her fate, while I told her I hated her! Once again, my eyes open to<br />
realities in life that I never considered before. Life is not all about me. I am ashamed again of my<br />
selfishness and my blindness. I replay Mom's response to my cutting words this morning. She was<br />
patient with me, even through her anger and fear.<br />
I put my old life, the old Autumn, behind me right then, and I begin to climb my mountain.<br />
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