Magic Pillow

K.J. Kratz

Description

On Christmas Eve morning, Jenna receives a mysterious package from her great aunt who died several months prior. Jenna quickly discovers that what appears to be just a decorative pillow turns out to be a portal to another world. As Jenna visits the other world, she discovers her hidden talents and forms an unbreakable bond with a diverse team. Jenna and the team use futuristic technology as they take an incredible journey to save their world from evil aliens.

Sujets

• Adventure (Guyana)
• Adventure

Informations

• Publié par: Inspiring Voices
• Date de parution: 11 novembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781462410637
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE Magic PILLOW
The Passage of Light
K.J. KRATZ

 
Copyright © 2014 K.J. Kratz.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
1 [phone]
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
 
ISBN: 978-1-4624-1062-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-1063-7 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014918986
 
 
Inspiring Voices rev. date: 11/11/2014
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About The Author
CHAPTER 1
D ark-gray clouds filled the skies as I navigated the reckless, half-asleep traffic on a mid-December morning. Normally, we had warm, dry winters because of what some suggested were the early signs of global warming, but that year, the clouds had filled the skies by early fall and yielded very few days of sunlight. The air turned cold in early September and insistently embraced us through winter.
The weather had been well suited for the type of year we’d had. It seemed that everyone decided to die that year, and I bought sympathy cards in bulk. Even my great aunt Sarah had decided to call it quits at age ninety-eight after outliving her children and three husbands. Sarah had been such a strong woman who had loved life and enjoyed every minute. She’d been wealthy because of her sharp mind and the brilliant investment decisions she’d made. Sarah owned land, real estate, and oil wells, all of which she managed throughout her life.
Because Sarah was alone, I had visited her frequently, especially in her last days. She was my mentor; she had taught me all about her investments and how she had made those decisions. We used to discuss the importance of building self-esteem and confidence. Sarah had told me many stories about her life and how she had used adversity to create opportunity. I hoped I would be as spry as she was when I turned ninety-eight.
I didn’t feel that energetic that day. My commute to work was only twenty minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Even though Aunt Sarah had been my mentor, I didn’t seem to have any of her traits. I believed I had been a lot like her years ago; I had had confidence and was creative and free. I guess when you grow up, you tend to lose old traits and take on new ones. I always felt I’d do something great, but the truth was I was just average. After all, if I had been special or great, wouldn’t I have been promoted by that point?
I work for Trust Insurance Company, which had hired a new vice president of distribution that year. He had major credentials and came from another large insurance company on the northeast coast. His name was Max, and he was very tall with dark hair and nearly black eyes. He dresses in the finest suits and always wore large gold cuff links shaped like squares. His initial was engraved on the square with a small diamond tucked under the middle point of the M. When he talked and gestured, his cuff links flashed in the light, and every once in a while, I caught a brilliant sparkle from the diamonds.
“Taking off work again tomorrow?” Max asked with a stern smile. “You’ve been taking off work quite a bit lately. I hope I don’t see your sales teams suffer because of it. I noticed the teams were averaging only twenty meetings per week. That’s a far cry from the thirty that’s expected of them.” His smile grew on his psychotic, smirky face.
“But we’re currently at a hundred and twenty percent of our goal, and our client satisfaction is very high,” I said in a shaking tone.
“I’d better not see the team’s performance start to sag or we’ll have to look at making some changes around here.”
“It’s almost Christmas, Max, and our team has worked hard all year. We need time off to spend with our families. Most of them didn’t take vacations this year because of the economy,” I said.
“Jenna, the holidays are no excuse,” Max firmly stated.
I folded my arms so he couldn’t see me shaking. I walked to the south side of the building. I remembered the day when I could walk around the office spreading my smile and positive energy. I always believed that as long as I kept a positive attitude, I’d have endless opportunities and doors that would swing open for me.
I walked down the dark hallway to the bathroom on the south side of the building to grab a minute. The south side of our building was nearly empty because several years ago, the company had planned for a large expansion that ended up on hold due to the poor economy. This had left the space absent of warm bodies and energy; all it contained were empty, gray cubes.
I walked into the restroom that lit up when the energy-saving sensors noticed me. I stood in front of a large mirror. The bathroom was totally gray except for the white toilets. Just like the rest of the building, it was a giant nothing. There were no pictures on the walls in this uninhabited part of the building. I stared at myself and saw sandy-brown hair and green eyes with a hint of darkness creeping in under them. I noticed the tiny wrinkles starting to form around my eyes; they reminded me that I was getting older and that several years of my life had just evaporated into thin air. What about the children I’ve always wanted? I asked myself. My brain was flooded with thousands of questions. I felt trapped and wasn’t sure how to change the life I had built. Everything just seemed so wrong.
As I sorted through those thoughts and emotions, a question kept repeating itself: Am I really living? I tried to figure out why I had ended up in this situation, and more important, how I was going to get out of it. At that moment, I realized I hadn’t been acknowledging my surroundings and had become complacently trapped. I had allowed that feeling to become a normal part of my everyday routine. I stared at myself a few minutes longer before I headed back to my desk to finish up some things before the end of the day.
I knew I couldn’t take off work the next day because of Max’s comments, but I had some errands to run before Christmas, including wrapping gifts, picking up last-minute stocking stuffers, and baking cookies to take to my parents’ home. My husband, Kyle, had already decided to work since he’d taken off work throughout the year to attend triathlon competitions; he’d left our gym in the hands of our other employees. We were preparing to celebrate marathon holidays with our families; it would require our driving five hundred miles in four days, and I realized I’d be staying up until midnight trying to get everything finished.
I silently made my way back to my desk, trying not to be noticed by Max, but as soon as I sat down, he showed up at my office door.
“Jenna, there’s something I need to discuss with you,” he said as his eyes and smile grew quite devilish.
“What do we need to discuss?” I asked.
“Well, we’re going to make some big changes next year.”
“What do you mean by big changes?”
“We’re looking at performance, and we believe that due to performance issues, we’ll be doing some consolidation with the management.”
“What do you mean by consolidation?” I asked as my stomach fell.
“Well, if we don’t see increased performance from our managers, and this includes you, we feel like we’ll start consolidating to other teams.”
“Well, my team is up a hundred and twenty percent over the goal, so I’d assume I was okay.”
“You think a hundred and twenty is good? You have a lot to learn, Jenna,” he said in a crude voice. “I know others in the industry doing two hundred.”
As he left my office, I realized he wanted me to leave the company. I was afraid he probably had someone else in mind for my position, and more than likely, it was one of his friends from his previous employer. I realized he’d be picking apart everything I did and scrutinizing every piece of work to find something, anything, wrong with it.
Kyle got home around nine that evening. I was exhausted from running all my errands. I watched him walk through the door, brushing his hand through his dark-brown hair. I admired his handsome physique and his smooth stride. He was muscular, and you could tell he was a professional weight trainer. We’d been married for five years but had decided to postpone having children because we were so busy with our careers.
“You hear the big news?” Kyle was excited. “There’s a huge snowstorm headed our way, and we could end up getting two feet of snow!” He had a childlike tone in his voice. “It’s supposed to start snowing on Christmas Eve and last three days.”
“Great. That’s just what I needed to hear. What are we going to do?” I asked as my voice and blood pressure rose.
“I don’t know,” Kyle said.
I was exhausted. The last thing I wanted to think about was a snowstorm. I hated snow and had always dreamed of moving to a warm place where I’d never have to deal with it again.
“I guess I shou