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 />
I do a quick check. Nobody is walking up to join the line, thank<br />
God. I pull out the food stamp debit card and swipe it fast. I watch<br />
Beehive lady's face, and there it is: 'The Look.' She goes through her<br />
normal routine of the widened eyes, the pinched lips, the flared<br />
nostrils, and now . . . the sniff. She acts as if I've stolen the bread money<br />
from her purse or as if I'm a dirty bum on the street who grabs at her<br />
as she walks by. I watch her two-finger the loaf of bread to bag it. I grab<br />
it from her two fingers. My only chance of saving any steam in my selfesteem<br />
is to refuse the freebie bag. I want to tell her that poverty is just<br />
a rash and not contagious. Instead, I snatch up the gum from the<br />
counter.<br />
"So, I seen on the work schedule that yer momma's name was<br />
scratched through. She's sick, I guess?"<br />
"Yeah, I guess so," I say as I walk to the trash can by the exit door.<br />
I unwrap a piece of gum and toss it in my mouth.<br />
Beehive lady tells the approaching cashier, loud enough for me to<br />
hear, "Rita did that girl a disservice by keeping her. She should have<br />
given that baby up for adoption or somethin'. Why, she can barely put<br />
food in that girl's mouth. Everybody would have forgot by now, how<br />
she showed up here with a babe-in-arms and no ring on her finger.<br />
Plain and simple stupidity on her part if you ask me."<br />
The sour gum makes my mouth water, and her sour words make<br />
my eyes fill. I turn, looking straight into Beehive lady's face. She's<br />
leaning against the counter with her arms crossed. A glance at the<br />
other cashier shows me that she is ashamed that I've heard the<br />
remarks, which Beehive lady obviously meant for me to hear. My eyes<br />
threaten to spill their tears, but I stay steely-eyed at Beehive lady. If I<br />
say anything, tears will flow. Instead, in my head, I say a lame prayer<br />
or curse. 'May your sour words give you lock-jaw, you old hag. Amen.'<br />
I turn to leave, and as the door closes behind me, I hear her say, "Weird<br />
kid."<br />
My prayer was powerless. Go figure. Next time I'll bring a doll and<br />
a pin.<br />
7
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