EXTRACT FOR
Light of Tina
(Richard Stooker)
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Light of Tina -- Extract Richard Stooker Copyright
© 2013 by Richard Stooker, Love Conquers All Press,
and Gold Egg Investing LLC. Cover
graphic design by Drew at idrewdesign on Fiverr.com. Cover,
book, and graphic design Copyright © 2013 by Richard Stooker,
Love Conquers All Press, and Gold Egg Investing, LLC. The
right of Richard Stooker to be identified as the
author of this book has been asserted in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyrights and Patents Act 1988. All
rights reserved. Except
for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or
in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written
permission of the author. All
characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author
and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They
are not even distantly inspired any individual known or unknown to the author,
and all incidents are pure invention. The Story Behind Light of
Tina Twenty-one years after, Paul Templeton still did not know
whether he was the man who raped and murdered his sister. At his neighbor Carl's cocktail party, Paul felt Tina as
a shimmering, transcendent presence -- not dead but there, shining through from
The World Behind. In the back of his mind, Paul re-experienced the nightmare he
dreamed first the night of Tina's death, and many times thereafter. It never
changed. ****************************************************************
Tina sits brushing her wavy golden hair in the bedroom in
the house where she lived with her boyfriend, several blocks down the street
from their family's home, where Paul slept. She wears the long purple robe Paul
gave her one Christmas and her silver crescent moon pendant. **********************************************************
Paul nibbled on peanuts and chips as he listened to his
neighbors brag about the bargains they found shopping, complain about their
bosses' and coworkers' incompetence, joke about their spouses, and try to
conceal their feelings of inadequacy with alcohol and determined good cheer.
Paul worried about his blood pressure, but salt was the vice society allowed
him to indulge publicly. His face wore its usual two-way mirror mask. He could
look out. He let nobody see in. Even as a child, Paul knew to hide the truth of his love
for Tina. Beaming genuine warmth and joviality and a need to earn
approval by making people happy, Carl grabbed Paul's arm. "Come over here
and meet our new neighbors." A man standing in a straight, too-rigid posture said,
"Jack Harrison," as he shook hands with Paul. He wore a demeanor of
professionalism that, beyond its blatant self-confidence, blanked Paul. Carl said, "Jack's a shrink, Paul, so be careful he
doesn't psychoanalyze you. He just bought the Newberry place." Carl
pointed to the Asian man next to the psychiatrist. "This is George. I
refuse to stumble over his last name. He's a biochemist at Monsanto and his family
just moved into the Smiths' house." The man bowed his head slightly forward, then put out his
hand. "Sirivorasarn. Just George is fine." ***************************************************************
The large green ceramic frog Paul gave Tina for her
twelfth birthday sits on the floor behind her. Her boyfriend's bluejeans lie across the back of her chair. The bed is
rumpled from their sex. ***************************************************************
Carl said, "This is George's lovely daughter, Khamnah. Her name, I can say." As Khamnah smiled at Paul, gold
light beamed from her face like the sun breaking through the clouds on a gloomy
overcast day. The impact, as deep and powerful as falling in love with Tina
when Mother first brought her home from the hospital, stunned him. Khamnah wore
a flowing, deep purple dress that set off her light brown skin and long,
gleaming black hair. She smelled of sweet perfume and sandalwood body lotion,
as fresh and intoxicating as an orchid. Although her Asian features were
physically different from Tina's narrow face, blue eyes, white skin, and blonde
hair, Khamnah's black eyes shown with the same glow
from The Other World. The World Behind. Tina's World. A spark of that light flickered in all beautiful women,
but never until now had Paul meet one who blazed with an intensity equal to
Tina’s. |