Like most of my random short stories, I’m not sure
what I’m planning to do with them when I’m done but I enjoy writing them.
They’re my form of therapy since we all know how expensive that can get. Therefore,
to deal with the insanity of my capstone, I have turned to the world of Federal
Marshal Annabelle Hall.
The concept for “Foreign Thoughts” actually came out
of watching the show “Haven” on Syfy that centers on a small town in Maine full
of people with supernatural abilities. As you all know the small town trope is
one that I love (i.e., Summer’s Hollow) so I decided to adopt that for this
latest series.
“Foreign Thoughts” centers on a small fishing town
in the Pacific Northwest, that similar to Summer’s Hollow or Haven, harbors
some secrets that a select few know about. If those secrets were spread though,
the country would be in a state of panic. It has become Annabelle’s job to
contain those secrets just as her father did before her. That is why she became
a Federal Marshal, to be positioned in that role; however, as always in my
stories, there is a twist.
See Annabelle has this gift or problem in some
cases. Whenever she touches a personal object of someone’s, she suddenly sees
what they are seeing. It could be right at that moment, back when they were a
child, or even five years into the future; there is no controlling it. This is
a great tool when trying to solve cases and catch suspects, but like
everything, it comes with a price.
Her father’s death, victims’ deaths and rapes,
suspects’ crimes, and many other painful memories she had to witness by touches
of their objects. Most was for the greater good, but it left her feeling cold
and distance from people. Experiencing their memories gave her an intimate look
into people’s thoughts, many of those thoughts she didn’t wish to know. This
gave her the edge to be excellent at her job but socially stunted.
So far I have written five short stories in this
series. Once again I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with them but I’ve
been on an inspirational kick to write them. Fret not though; I’m still working
on the next book in the Summer’s Hollow series, which will go into more depth
about the Pascal family. I leave you then with a passage from the first story
in the “Foreign Thoughts” series:
The
car ride to the house was a silent one. Neither really knew what to say to each
other. Neither knew if what would come out would be something loving or
yelling. It was clear to both that waiting until they got back to the privacy
of their home was the best bet.
They
pulled up the winding drive to their house tucked away in the woods,
overlooking the harbor behind them. They liked to be away from Westport proper
but not too far. She couldn’t help but smile as they pulled into the driveway;
she did miss her house even if there were some bad memories as well. He turned
off the truck and they sat there for a second.
He
finally opened his mouth, “You okay?”
“Yeah…
just adjusting to being back in Westport, back to our house, back here with
you…”
“Is
that a bad thing?” he asked slowly.
“So
far, no…” she mused.
“So…
should we get out?”
She
nodded and then climbed out the truck; Scott pulled her bags out from the back.
They walked up the stone front steps to the front door and into the foyer. He
set down her bags by the front door as she felt her body relax. It did feel
good to be home. He saw that and smiled, she then smiled back at him. They
stood there for a second and then he moved in and pulled her into a tight hug.
At
first she just stood there and let him hug her but then she hugged him back,
clinging to his broad upper body. She was now realizing how much she missed
him. It was easy in the field to just brush it off, she was always so busy. Now
her life with Scott was coming screeching to the foreground. The problem with
that? So was the memory of her daughter.
