Ghost Orchid

B. W. Wrighthard

Description

Follow Sara's journey from San Francisco to River City, Indiana to reconnect with the mother who abandoned her years earlier. Once she is in Indiana, Sara blends in with the artists at Addicted to the Arts Co-op, where her mother is a vital member. She also meets and befriends Jane, and before they know it, the lies and truths that weave through their parallel lives are exposed in a crashing reality.

Sujets

• Women
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 16 mars 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456614324
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Ghost Orchid

A story of lost connections between mothers and daughters

B.W. Wrighthard

Copyright 2013 B. W. Wrighthard, All rights reserved.

Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com http://www.eBookIt.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1432-4

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

The prosaic bridge, “Roots,” written by Maryanne Burkhard. Copyright 2007 by Maryanne Burkhard. All rights reserved

The poems, “Ghost Orchid,”and “Sex and Margaritas,” written by Robin Wright. Copyright 2007 by Robin Wright. All rights reserved.

This novel is a work of fiction. All names, places, characters, and incidents are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people (living or deceased), places, events, locations, and establishments is coincidental.

Maryanne: For my children and their families—Jeremy and Christine, Benjamin, and Kimberlyn, who make it all worthwhile

Robin: For Bob, Derek, and Alisha—my life

Contents

Chapter 1 Spring 2005 Chapter 2 Monday, Week Five Chapter 3 Friday, Week One Chapter 4 Saturday, Week One Chapter 5 Monday, Week Two Chapter 6 Monday, Week Two Chapter 7 Tuesday, Week Two Chapter 8 Monday - Tuesday, Week Three Chapter 9 Tuesday, Week Three Chapter 10 Wednesday, Week Three Chapter 11 Wednesday, Week Three Chapter 12 Thursday, Week Three Chapter 13 Thursday, Week Three Chapter 14 Thursday, Week Three Chapter 15 Thursday, Week Three

Chapter 16 Thursday, Week Three Chapter 17 Friday - Saturday, Week Three Chapter 18 Friday – Saturday, Week Three Chapter 19 Friday - Saturday, Week Three Chapter 20 Saturday, Week Three Chapter 21 Sunday – Monday, Week Four Chapter 22 Tuesday, Week Four Chapter 23 Tuesday, Week Four Chapter 24 Tuesday, Week Four Chapter 25 Tuesday, Week Four Chapter 26 Wednesday, Week Four Chapter 27 Friday, Week Four Chapter 28 Friday – Monday, Week Four Chapter 29 Friday – Monday, Week Four Chapter 30 Friday – Monday, Week Four Chapter 31 Saturday, Week Four

Chapter 32 Saturday - Monday, Week Four Chapter 33 Monday, Week Five POSTCRIPT Chapter 34 Tuesday, Week Five Chapter 35 Monday – Friday, Week Five Acknowledgements About the Author

Ghost Orchid

Those few weeks of summer after the sphinx moth strokes you with its tongue, your slender white petals float from thin stems, drifting in air, no leaves for a partner, while your dark roots, barely visible, cling to cypress, pop ash, or pond apple trees, never touching ground, never appearing connected to the earth.

Robin Wright

Roots

The child emerges from a hidden origin unaware that her unseen roots have formed a tangled mass of invisible scars for everyone involved in the twisted journey—even while branching out to create new scars. Mysterious roots concealed until the inevitable day they appear to reclaim their rightful place in the restoration of the soul.

Maryanne Burkhard

Chapter 1

Spring 2005

Sara heard the screeching misery of seagulls as she stepped down from the cable car at the turnaround near Fisherman’s Wharf. She watched their shadowy shapes disappear into the distance like a flock of ghostly creatures and felt an instant pang. Seagulls flew in flocks, like family, like she didn’t have. All she’d ever had were foster families, and they equaled a strange bedroom in a strange home with strangers. How many times had life ground her down and flung her back into another home? Still, how could she have let her life spiral so badly out of control that the same fate was a real possibility for her own daughter? She pulled a pack of Marlboros from her pocket, cupping one hand around her cigarette to block the wind while lighting up with the other. A fellow passenger accidentally brushed her shoulder, but when he apologized saw her cigarette and frowned, waving away the smoke and huffing off as if she were a pariah. She knew she should quit, but she could deal with ridding herself of only one bad habit at a time. She shoved the pack and lighter back into her pocket and blew smoke rings that vanished. If only her addictions could disappear as easily. As easily as her daughter had been taken from her. She took a last drag, flung the cigarette to the ground, and mashed it to shreds. The cycle ends here. It ends now. It just has to.

Sara looked around the wharf. She could lose herself here among the tourists, think about her life, clear her head, plan her future. So many unresolved things needed attention. The choice to come here seemed easy compared to the one she’d faced that day she took a Muni to Golden Gate Bridge, intending to jump into the deep water below. That’s where her daily dance with alcohol had led her. But just as the Muni screeched to a halt at the bus stop, images of her daughter Jamie had flashed in front of her. She shuddered as she recalled standing frozen while the remaining passengers emptied the van, and it sputtered away. Her whole body