A Fantasy and Paranormal Anthology – Vol I
by Barbara Combs Williams
COPYRIGHT © 2020 ALL rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
All cover art, logo design and poetry are the original works of the author.
A REMEMBER TOO DESIGN
2020
Foreword
THIS COLLECTION OF short and not so short stories and poetry is Volume 1 of this project. The stories take the reader on a journey through time and space, through the mind of the author.
Some stories take us on a voyage inside the dark universe of what could be. While other stories deal with the everyday lives of people much like us, but with a twist. A few stories have been published before, but have been rewritten and updated, so they are fresh as can be.
Some of the stories will make the reader say, "aha," while others will swear the author has read their mind.
Some stories will uplift you with their strength and determination, while others will sadden some. It is intentional, for as in everyday life, we have love and happiness; conversely there is also hate and despair that needs to be addressed. Hopefully, many will identify with several character’s stories and enjoy them, no matter the emotions elicited.
Some of these stories are intentional cliff-hangers. The conclusion of the stories to be included in volume 2.
The cover is the original artwork of the author. It depicts a mesmerizing look into the plane of existence the author dwells in. Please read, please enjoy, and please let me know what you think.
Thank you – Barbara Combs Williams
https://www.BarbaraCombsWilliams.com
Contents
A Fantasy and Paranormal Anthology – Vol I
Foreword
True Love Never Dies
It Slowly Fades Away
That Green Tree They Slid Sideways Into the Light
Chapter 1- In The Beginning
Chapter 2 - Let the Sun Shine In
Fun House
The Face In the Mirror
Running Out of Time
Time Waits For No One
The Prize
One Man’s Trash is Another One’s Prize
Year 2175
One Hundred Years After
Haunts
Love Lost
The Time Traveler
No Time for the Bull****
A Killer Smile
If You Only Knew
Silken Threads
The Web of Man-Kind
Love at first sight
The True Meaning of Love
The Gift of Sight
We Are Led by Faith, Not by Sight
Who Commanded?
Without a Doubt
A Boy and His Dog
Slender Brown Hands
The loves of a lifetime
One Day Love Will Last
About The Author
True Love Never Dies
It Slowly Fades Away
EVELYN AWOKE, GROGGY from a troubled and unsatisfying sleep. He was there, again. She could feel his cool breath against her cheek. The smell of his cologne (Old Spice) wafting through the small bedroom. He rustled the covers as he lay down beside her.
It had been almost a year, and now Edward chose to come back. Last week he snuck in, in the middle of the night. At first, she laid very still, pretending to sleep on. She thought if she breathed evenly he would just go away, but no, he sniffed around her neck. Just like he used to do so long ago. She had yelled out crying and shaking, “Why are you back? I can’t take it; I can’t take it!”
She loved him for so long that it came naturally to her. There was no pretense, no guile. It was a true and tender love expressed in the simple ways of living.
They had three daughters, raised as God-fearing children should be. But they were adults now with children of their own and had moved into their own homes.
So now, she lived alone. The small three bedroom house seemed too big. The living room was ‘un-lived’ in. The kitchen where she used to cook huge delicious meals for their entire family was cold and barren most days. The microwave took the place of the oven, and most meals were of the single serve kind.
Evelyn told her daughters the first time Edward came back. They were speechless. “Why now?” they asked.
Another spoke out loud thinking over the situation, “Mom, are you sure. It’s been so long.
The third one said, “Why would Dad come back now?” They all gave her doubting looks of dismay.
She shook her head at them. Almost unbelieving it herself, but it was true. Edward had visited her in the night, and it made her so very sad.
Evelyn had given up on feeling his strong arms around her. She had come to terms with not having his booming voice, laughing along with her over some silly show on television. She had scaled back the large meals and only heated up food for one. Evelyn had adjusted as well as she could to him being gone.
To come back now, as if she called him and begged him, was too much to endure. True, Evelyn had called out to Edward at first. She had begged God for his return. Knowing it was too late. Knowing he was gone for good. She had seen it with her own eyes. Edward turned his face from her and in her mind at least, he had simply ceased to exist.
EVELYN HAD WOKEN UP that first night after he left. The tears still streaming down her soft cheeks. The pain of Edward’s abandonment too fresh, too raw, the cut too deep to ever recover from.
She would never believe she could recover from it. In fact, she didn’t want to live herself. Without him by her side, life had no meaning. Evelyn wasn’t being over dramatic; it was too true the pain she felt at his loss.
Now, almost a year later, he comes back. He comes back after she gave up looking for him to walk through the kitchen door, laying his hat on the peg. Edward was back after she made a simple existence for herself. She had moved on, so to speak. There wasn’t another man in her life, but she had gotten over most of the ‘wants’
