EXCERPT FROM NOVEL:

PROLOGUE

January, 1983.

It was a cold icy day in Briarwood. The town experienced a bitter snowstorm the night before. Everything was covered in a three-inch blanket of snow. The temperature was ten degrees above zero and the sun was nowhere to be seen. Overall it was a dreary day. 

The weather matches my mood thought Pamela Hayes as she satin front of her living room window staring outside. The chill outside matched the chill around her heart. Pamela was depressed. She was bored. She had been cooped up inside her parents’ house for several months. It was not by choice. Her present predicament was the result of a car accident that nearly killed her and broke several of her bones.  Her crippled body made going places a horrendous ordeal. She was unable to stand on her feet for long periods of time without falling down. Leaving the house alone was totally out of the question. It was a temporary condition. Her bones would heal in due time. And for that she was grateful.

She had never been one to stay home much. She led an active life before the accident. She held down a full time job and her leisure time was filled with several different activities. Playing tennis, going to the gym, and bicycle riding were a few of the things she enjoyed in the past and planned to eventually do again. It was hard for her to accept the limitations of her present condition. She had no other choice.  The injuries she sustained were going to take a long time to heal. Her broken bones were not going to mend overnight simply because she wanted them to. She spent most of her time during her convalescence reading and watching television. Those two activities had grown old. The only good thing about them was that they sometimes kept her mind occupied. This was important. When her mind was unoccupied it dwelled on the state of her life and the events that led up to her present condition. Thinking about those things only made her miserable. She was trying to remain positive and look forward to the time when she would be completely recovered and able to resume her life. No matter what she did there were times when the bad feelings always crept in and made it seem like better days were never going to come. She refused to give into those feelings. She was not going to allow her present state to permanently turn her into a bitter resentful woman who lived the rest of her life in misery.

Pam had always been an avid reader. One of the greatest pleasures of her life was enjoying a good book. Several months of doing almost nothing but reading were getting tiresome. There were times when she had trouble concentrating on a story she was trying to read. Her mind wandered and she ended up reading the same paragraphs over and over. 

Watching television was also growing old. She had watched enough talk shows, soap operas, and old movies to last her a lifetime.  Evening programs were better. But then again she could only watch so many cop shows and sitcoms before boredom set in. Boredom was always joined by a new wave of depression for her to fight off.

Today she was not reading or watching TV. She was expecting company. Her two best friends Charmaine and Tracy were coming over. Visiting with them would certainly break the monotony. They were due to arrive at any moment.

She had prepared lunch for her guests earlier. It was a simple meal of ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips, grape Kool Aid, and lime Jell-O. She became tired while preparing the meal and had to sit down and rest twice before she was finished. It was not an exciting menu, but a simple meal was all she could manage in her present condition. It did not matter. The food was unimportant. Tracy and Charmaine knew the circumstances of her life. They understood her limitations.

Pam often became angry and frustrated with her inability to do simple things. She promised herself that after she was healed, she would never again take common everyday things like walking or getting up out of a chair for granted.

Pam did not go out often. The only time she left the house was to go to her doctor’s office. She wanted to force herself to get up and do more, but she was warned by her doctor that trying to do too much could send her into a relapse and delay her recovery. She definitely did not want that to happen.

Things were improving. She was making progress in her recovery slowly but surely. There was a time when she did not know if she would ever walk again. She was now able to walk with the aid of crutches. There was a time when she could not get out of bed without help, but eventually she was able to scoot herself out of bed and into a wheelchair. After that she had to work on getting out of the wheelchair and standing on crutches. She rejoiced over each milestone in her recovery. 

Her family stood by her during this troublesome time in her life. They did all they could to make her comfortable and assist in her recovery. Her father took off work to drive her to her doctor appointments and made sure every prescription she needed was promptly filled. Her mother kept her clothes washed and ironed. Best of all was the understanding and encouragement they gave her. She was grateful to them and would appreciate all the things they did for her for the rest of her life. She knew it wasn’t always easy for them to help her out. Both of them worked full-time jobs. Sometimes she felt guilty. She had an independent spirit and did not like to depend on others. She was an adult. Her parents had done their part by taking care of her when she was a child and putting her through college.  That was all they were obligated to do for her as far as she was concerned. This accident opened her eyes to how much they loved her. She would never again take that love for granted.

Before the accident she lived in her own apartment and held down a full time job. She missed getting up and going to work each day and dealing with the challenges of her career. She missed getting a paycheck every other week. Most of all she missed her privacy. It seemed like someone knew every move she made.

Seeing Tracy and Charmaine would be a bright spot in an otherwise dreary day. They were her two closest friends. Their friendship was dear to her. They were like sisters. There was a time when the three of them were inseparable. She was looking forward to visiting with them and catching up on their lives. The three of them often reminisced about their past when they were together. She forgot about her problems and focused on other things while they were around. They made her laugh. Laughing was something she had not done too much of in the past few months.

The three of them had been through a lot during the past year.  Each of them had endured her own private hell. They were paying a heavy price for past mistakes.  Pam often marveled at how it was ironic that they started their adult lives on such different paths only to end up at the same place.  She remembered a time when each of them was eager to get out on her own and rush into adulthood. Now they were all thrown back to the place they began. Back to the homes of their parents. The events that led them there were different. The things they endured and the

men they loved were all different. Tracy and Charmaine were not recovering from physical injuries like she was. They were dealing with problems of their own that she could not relate to. Each of them was mentally scarred. That was the biggest thing they had in common.

Most of their pain and suffering was the result of bad relationships.  They gave their hearts to men that did not appreciate or deserve them. Each of them had nearly been destroyed. They were survivors.  They would probably carry scars from the anguish and turmoil they went through for the rest of their lives. Pam strongly believed that in the end they would get on with their lives and move forward. All of this pain and drama would be distant memories. They had strong wills that would help them prevail.

They could not blame all of their problems on men. They were not forced into anything. The option of saying yes or no was always available to them. The truth of the matter is that they made bad choices and were paying for them. They were responsible for many of their problems. Too many times they put up with unnecessary crap and went against their own principles to please their men. All of them had the mistaken belief that they needed men to make their lives

complete and fulfilled.

When the three of them were together, it seemed as if they were thrown back in time. Back to a simpler time where they started out as three carefree young girls ready to set the world on fire. A time when each of them were filled with hopes and dreams for the future. 

Deep down inside they were still the same three young girls. The outsides were different. The dreams and plans were different. The hope that had been their driving force during their teenage years was still there. That hope was a survival tool. 

As she stared out her living room window, Pam started thinking about their high school days. Back then they were three attractive young girls who were innocent and unmarked by the cruel tricks life could play on people. She thought about the three of them partying, going on dates, and sitting around talking for hours and listening to music. Pam smiled as she thought about the past.