Short Story: Neverland

  It is time for another sneak peek. At this point, both of us have finished the main drafts for all of our stories. We're very excited as we move completely into beta reading and getting ready to revise for the final times on all of our stories. At this point we're hoping for an end of October publishing date, so everyone be prepared for that, and wish us luck.

  Here is this week's clip from my short story titled "Neverland":

  She knelt on the alcove seat, unlatched and opened the windows, and leaned out over the windowsill. The busy city streets stretched out far below her, but she tried to ignore them. She took a deep breath and tried to imagine that the air didn’t smell like car exhaust and smog.
  She leaned back in the seat, brushing back her blond bangs. Her eyes wandered up and down the city streets and over the peaceful darkening skyline for a full minute before they came to rest on the book that she had left on the windowsill. She traced the title on the front cover with her finger and smiled. Pride and Prejudice. Her favorite.

  This story is probably my second favorite that I've written for this collection (and my wife agrees). I actually wrote the beginning of this story (the first three pages or so) for a creative writing assignment during my first term of college two years ago. I went back to it about two months ago and was re-reading it and realizing that it wasn't really a complete story, but I really liked the idea.

  The story follows a woman in her mid twenties who is struggling with the real world, the more-or-less recent loss of her mother, and the pain her father has caused her through his controlling ways. This story is basically about a time in which she realizes she needs to grow up and move on. The themes of this story are family love, unforgiveness/forgiveness, loss, and growing up.

  This is one of the more family-friendly, hope-filled stories for this collection.