IT'S FIRST FRIDAY! Delaney. Eckhart. Hurricane Sandy

The Photo

This is where I give three authors one photograph, and in 150 words, they write what they see in it. The difference in imagination and voice is fascinating. This month one of the authors, Marc vun Kannon, lost power to Hurricane Sandy and didn't make it. Maybe he'll be back sometime. 

DELANEY

I sit here, in my father’s study, waiting. Soon the candle will go out and the birthday party for my cousin, Cassie, and my beautiful sister, Alice, will be over.

Today, they are sixteen. Alice, whom I love so, wants only to be with Cassie. No longer does she read with me, play games or share secrets. She only smiles on her way to giggle with Cassie under the elm tree. They fall silent when they see me coming.

I helped Cook frost their individual birthday cakes, though. Chocolate for Cassie, lemon for Alice. It is a tradition.

My mother is screaming, my aunt sobbing, the wail of an ambulance falls silent as the front door opens. I smile as I blow out the candle.

Someone stands at the open door. Alice? No, Cassie. She sobs as she holds up a small birthday cake. It is lemon.

 We traded, she says.

ECKHART

The loud overweight lady with bad breath would be right in. But that was an hour ago, when her mother left. So she didn’t move even though the sharp edge of the metal framed chair poked the small of her back. They’d practiced for hours last week. Sit straight, shoulders back, even though she longed to skid on her bum across the room. But that she could never do, because her mother expected her to be perfect—to win. Nothing less would do.

Her face itched from the makeup. Her hair was curled and fastened just like a princess—a princess she never wanted to be. She tried to ignore the pinch between her shoulder blades, but agony worsened as she waited for the agent to appear, promising fame for the children and fortune to the parents. And not once had anyone asked nine year old Lily, what she wanted.

At Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

KATHLEEN DELANEY

Kathleen Delaney writes the Ellen McKenzie mystery series. Dying For A Change, the first in the series, introduces us to Ellen who has returned to her as a real estate agent. Finding a dead body in the closet of the first house you show is a hard way to start. Life doesn’t get any easier for Ellen in the next three books, Give First Place to Murder, And Murder For Dessert, and Murder For Dessert. She has just finished the fifth in this series, Murder by Syllabub. She lives in South Carolina in a one hundred year old house with a dog and cat and often a couple of her eight grandchildren who love to visit. Or is it the pumpkin/cranberry bread they like?

At Amazon

LORHAINNE ECKHART

Lorhainne Eckhart began her writing career five years ago. A lifelong love for stories inspired her to start writing. She read everything and naturally had the ability to create vivid characters, drawing on the experiences of friends, family and acquaintances around her. When her children started school she sat down to write her first novel. The story unfolded and four years later The Wild Rose Press published her first novel, 'The Captain's Lady.'  Lorhainne has a passion for the outdoors, her extensive gardens and preserving nature. Lorhainne Eckhart and her family live in the peaceful countryside on Vancouver Island.