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The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey
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The tale of a widow's harrowing journey through grief and peril into the cold remnants of a dead world. Damon Sharpe had in part found victory, he believed, in his battle to unearth a truth obscured by time. By autumn, he was dead, leaving to his wife Anne a house of unfulfilled wishes, remnants, and the key to the enigma of his obsession, the Mourner’s Cradle. A journey through grief and peril delivers Anne Sharpe from her home in St. Charles to the faraway skeletons of a long-dead civilization where she will find the desperate answers she seeks…or die trying. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing
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The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey Tragedy
TRAGEDYIAt the frontdesk of the King’s Motel, Mike Williams read a newspaper, absorbing further second-hand details of the quake’s impact along with all of the latest sports updates. The maid came in to work as usual but shrank away from cleaning one of the rooms. The guest there had screamed at her like a lunatic, she claimed.Annoyed, Mike dropped the newspaper and stood up. Since the maid couldn’t be bothered to do her job today, it fell on his shoulders.He snatched the maid’s cart from her and wheeled it to the room. The door stood slightly open, he noticed. He knocked. No one answered.“Anybody in there?” he called. He allowed five seconds for a response before he pushed the red door wide open and walked in.The room was vacant. The comforter lay halfway off the bed. The sheets were wrinkled.The clock radio on the bedside nightstand blared the news. He almost switched it off, but decided not to bother. At least it gave him something to listen to while he took his
Last Updated : 2021-09-06The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey Minute of Truth
MINUTE OF TRUTHIThe ground steadied across St. Charles. Mike Williams still sat in the storage room behind the front counter of the King’s Motel, watching continued coverage of the earthquake’s effects.“Authorities have reported that the River Bridge has been closed due to the earthquake’s destruction,” the reporter said. “All around St. Charles, especially downtown, we continue to receive reports of damages. While many people around the city are working to pick up the pieces, a few have questioned the possibility of an aftershock. We’ll have more on this later. We will also be on the scene with officers at the River Bridge for a full report on the additional difficulties this catastrophe could mean for the residents of St. Charles in the days and months ahead. Please stay tuned to this channel for further updates as they develop.”Around the River Bridge, blue lights whirled. Police guarded the River Bridge and turned away traffic as it arrived. Below, on both sides of the rive
Last Updated : 2021-09-06The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey Hour of Destruction
HOUR OF DESTRUCTIONIAnne stumbled outof her motel room. The sickness lurched in her again with another sudden bout of dizziness. Coupled with the unsteady ground, it almost staggered her.The vibrations in the ground were no delusions. They were as real as the cold feeling that gripped her inside.Why the ground shook, she couldn’t begin to guess. Of the rest, Anne suspected, she was dying.That exhausting climb into the mountains, the loss suffered, and her experience in the pit had not been altogether in vain. The secret of that place was inside her, changing her. She had merely failed to realize it until now.Many of the motel’s other customers stood outside. The vibrations beneath their feet and the rattling of mirrors, windows, and anything that wasn’t bolted down had driven them out. Undistracted by the shouts and excited conversations all around, Anne stumbled away from the King’s Motel.Her feet reached the hard street. She followed the long, dark stretch but cou
Last Updated : 2021-09-06The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey Downtown
DOWNTOWNIOn an outeredge of St. Charles, just before the downtown area thinned toward the outskirts, the flickering neon sign of the King’s Motel burned against the night. For Anne, cheap rooms were the motel’s prime selling point. She had almost two hundred dollars in cash left.The mustached man behind the counter, whose name tag read Mike, pretended not to see her at first. She stood waiting for almost a minute before he raised his head to regard her for an expressionless moment.“Can I help you?” he asked.“I need a room,” she said.“How many nights?”“One. For now.”“Eight dollars.”Anne lowered the green pack onto the floor and crouched to open it. She sorted through it until she came up with seven crumpled dollar bills, which she tossed onto the counter along with a handful of change. Mike blew audibly through his nostrils. He took the money and slid a key onto the counter.“Room 26,” Mike said, and turned his attention elsewhere.Anne took the key and exited
Last Updated : 2021-09-06The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey Lima
LIMAIRuben managed toconvince the random flyer next to Anne to trade seats with him. Soon, the plane hummed along the runway stretch, lurched upward, and lifted them into the skies.Anne wasn’t speaking much. Ruben had a glass of water and ignored the package of peanuts brought. Halfway t
The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey Taking Flight
TAKING FLIGHTIThe St. Charles RegionalAirport was only semi-crowded today. Anne rushed across its expanse to the nearest pay phone she could find and dialed Ruben’s number again. This time, he answered.“This is Ruben Ramirez.”“Ruben, this is Anne.”“Anne. How are you?”“I’m at the ai
The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey Intruder
INTRUDERIWhen the manstepped in and saw her there, he froze. Their eyes locked.He was bald, with a flat nose and narrow eyes. The beginnings of a gray-speckled black beard lined his jaw. His frame filled out a navy-blue tee-shirt and black jacket.Anne broke away and ran. The intruder d
The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow’s Journey Loss
LOSSIIn the spring of ’79, the efforts of Damon Sharpe’s research reached a pinnacle. He had in part been victorious, he believed, in his battle to unearth a truth obscured by time. He had only to look on it with his own eyes to verify the success as more than personal, though it remained a vict
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