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    New Life
    New Life
    New Life
    Ebook92 pages1 hour

    New Life

    By Don P. Bick

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Although two of my favorite topics are love and eternal life, with each story I attempted to do something a little different. In one story I wrote in the first person as a woman, the story was from her perspective. Another was directed toward teenagers, while those under 10 might enjoy one of the others written for their age group. Enjoy the magic of a children’s story in 'Beneath the Tarp', or reflect on the concept underlying 'I Await'. Perhaps shed a tear as 'New Life' touches the very depths of your soul.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDon P. Bick
    Release dateDec 8, 2011
    ISBN9781465925893
    New Life
    Author

    Don P. Bick

    Don is a Vietnam Veteran. Recently he spent several months in Vietnam working on his war memoirs - The Boy Died In Vietnam. He has written several novels and short stories. His two favorite topics are love and life after death. Visit his website for more information. Your comments are always appreciated!

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      Book preview

      New Life - Don P. Bick

      New Life

      Short stories: a collection of love

      By

      Don P. Bick

      Electronic edition published by Don P. Bick.

      Copyright 2011 by Don P. Bick, all rights reserved.

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

      All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      I wish all of you love, laughter, and goodwill.

      Give freely of your love.

      Share a smile.

      And promote goodwill.

      For we are all One family.

      Table of Contents

      1. New Life

      2. Beneath the Tarp

      3. I Await

      4. Coffee Break

      5. The Glassmaker’s Magic

      6. Friends

      7. The Bridge Across Time

      8. My Shiny Object

      9. Butterflies and Flowers

      10. The Aviary Tragedy

      11. About the author

      New Life

      back to top

      It was one of those exceptionally gorgeous spring days. The air was crystal clear yet surprisingly warm, considering how cool the night had been. A small amount of ground fog still clung to the lowest areas, quickly dissipating as the air continued to warm. Yet the sky was already deep blue, and the golden orb of the sun shone brightly above the tree studded hillside in the distance, its fiery glow reflecting off the shiny surfaces of man's creations. Everywhere new life was emerging into the light of day.

      A majestic tree awakened to the new year once again, as it had done each year for over two hundred years in the past. New shoots grew from the ends of tender new branches. A leaf here and there began to uncurl, spreading out to grasp the life-giving rays of the sun, after a long and cold winter season. Young buds dotted new and old plants alike, while flowers slowly began to reveal their beauty to a cleansed and anticipating world. There was a feeling in the air, a feeling of life, a feeling of all things new. There was a stirring within, a restlessness of the spirit some might call it. A resurgence of desire, of worth, of expectation, and a release from the hold of all that tends to bind or restrict.

      At least that was so from one perspective. Another perspective was just a thought away. But it was so ugly in contrast that most shied away from its viewing. And yet some couldn't. They were face to face with it. Day in and day out they were forced to watch, to see, and had no choice but to confront its ugliness. And confront it they did, which to those who looked on, who knew and understood, demonstrated perhaps the greatest beauty of all that gorgeous spring day.

      The enormous tree rose regally from its place alongside the large parking lot. Too old and much too beautiful to cut down, the tree was left in a natural garden in the center of the relatively new sprawling complex, and the project designed around it.

      The buildings in the complex were deep tan in color, two stories high, and surrounded by luscious green lawns, as well as various multicolored shrubbery. Each building was topped with a covering of blue metal, a surprisingly graceful color for roofing material. This morning the sun danced its light from rooftop to rooftop, causing the passersby to squint as they began to adjust and become accustomed to the new brightness that had again returned to the world; the darkness of winter having just barely slipped around the corner.

      Directly across the nearly full parking lot, on the second floor of building C, sat a large picture window overlooking the small garden, wherein grew the old tree. The blinds were closed inside. Spring was outside. On the other side of those closed blinds it was dark. There, winter still lingered. And during that bright shiny spring morning there were perhaps no other people in the entire world that longed to see and experience the joys of new life more than Carl and Brenda Gettings. They were forced to sit and watch their daughter slowly waste away and die. And there was nothing they could do. They felt utterly and miserably hopeless and helpless.

      In the corner of the parking lot, near the west entrance, a large wooden sign hung from an elaborate stone structure. On the sign, in two-foot-high lettering, were the words - May Valley Hospital. Although the complex resembled a college campus more than a hospital, it was considered one of the finest hospitals to be found anywhere in the country, the world for that matter. Here they primarily dealt with advanced stages of cancer.

      Spring didn't exist inside that darkened room. An unearthly green glow from three active monitors enshrouded everything in the small intensive care unit. Carl and Brenda sat on one side of the bed each touching their daughter Trisha, hoping against hope that something would change, and their precious daughter be given another chance at living a full normal life. But those days of hope and wishful thinking had long ago vanished in disappointment, and yet in the final hours there was a tendency and renewed desire to hold onto her, to Trisha, the center of their lives these past eight years. A resurgence of hope welled up in each of their hearts to have one last prayer granted, one last wish; a miracle performed. They knew it wouldn't happen, but they prayed for one anyway. Either one of them would have gladly given their own life in order to save hers from this undeserved fate.

      It had been a trying and difficult time, to say the least. The strain on both of their faces told the story of many nights without sleep, as well as hours upon hours of worry. They were mere skeletons of their former selves, having each lost more weight than was healthy. Neither could accept, nor understand, why this was happening to their little girl, to Trisha, who had always been a kind, quiet, and gentle girl. She hadn’t even cried much when she was a tiny baby.

      Cancer, it is such a terrible and nasty word. A tumor had been detected. Surgery followed almost immediately but it was already too late. The malignancy had spread, and, in a few weeks, time had resurfaced in other parts of young Trisha's body. Only four months had passed since the original diagnosis. Four months, an eternity for the three of them. And yet the time had sped by. Their time was now at the end, the time they had for the three of them to be together had run out. A decision needed to be made that day. And both knew there was no use prolonging it.

      Carl looked long and hard at Brenda, his wife of ten years, who simply nodded her head in affirmation. A single tear dropped from her right eye. He got up and left the room.

      A short while later Carl returned, followed by a nurse and Trisha's doctor. There was very little said, they had spent hours going over the details and ramifications of their decision. The doctor simply asked, Are you both sure? When Carl and Brenda nodded their heads,

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