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Sunday, June 8, 2014

5/5 Within Reach - By Jill Bisker



Get the paper tissues at the ready! I just loved Jill’s moving contemporary fiction short story, of a daughter coming to terms with her mother’s dementia. 



Within Reach
Jill Bisker
Emma, a woman coming to terms with her mother’s increasing dementia and the everyday challenges associated with it. While serving as caregiver for her mother, she inexplicably finds herself ‘re-living’ specific events from her past, including times spent with her parents when she was a child. She soon wonders if her own sanity is slipping as she struggles to understand what is happening to her. If she can unlock the meaning of the visions from her past, she might be able to face the uncertainty of her future. Her mother must have the key—if only she can reach her.

Excerpt

My heart jumped as my tires slipped on the wet pavement. The pouring rain swallowed the faint glimmer of my old Toyota’s headlights as I pumped my brakes and negotiated the bend in the road. Slow down, I told myself, but the gnawing unease in my stomach urged me to hurry. It was only a few more miles now. An extra five minutes would make no difference. One thing was certain; I would be no help to my mother if I had an accident.
I tried to push our last argument to the back of my mind. Remembering the anger and recriminations wouldn’t keep my mind on my driving. My mother had been furious when I said she needed to come live with us or find an assisted living arrangement. She wouldn’t accept her failing memory was a hazard to herself and others. Her personality had slowly changed as the disease progressed, until she was unable to be reasonable anymore. That scared me. Well, now the other choices were gone. Something had to change. I knew there would be another fight, but I had no choice. Tomorrow, I’d call my mother’s doctor to see what options existed for the swiftly deteriorating situation.
Her doctors kept assuring me Mom was able to live alone, but I knew she had just hidden the degree to which her confusion had advanced. She was a wonderful actress. It seemed I was the only one who saw behind the mask she showed the world. I’d sworn when I learned of my mother’s condition I would be there for her. She had been there for me. Little did I know how difficult that vow would become for all of us.
The rain started to come down in torrents, so I could hardly see the twisting road. I had driven this route so many times, but now I felt lost. The trees lining the sides of the road appeared, closing in on me, and the black pavement descended into an abyss around the next turn. My head pounded with the effort just to stay alert and not to panic.
At times, it seemed like Mom was a three-year-old trapped in an old woman’s body. I would look in her eyes and see emptiness where she once was. I hiccoughed a sob and tried to hold it together. I didn’t know how much more I could take. I was so tired.
I couldn’t believe it when I got my mother’s voice message saying she accidentally left her cat Rhubarb outside and she was going to look for it. What if she was hit by a car that didn’t see her in the rainy darkness? Please, please don’t let her get hurt, I prayed over and over to whoever might be listening as I drove through the dismal night.
Rhubarb died three years ago.
 
Author Note
Proceeds from the sale of my book will go toward the Alzheimer’s Association.
 
Buy
EBOOKS  http://www.melange-books.com/authors/jillbisker/withinreach.html

Genres
Contemporary Fiction
Short
? Heat Level:


About the Author
Jill Bisker lives in Stillwater, MN with her husband and a calico cat named Senora. She believes in empowering women to be strong enough to protect themselves, while still soft enough to be loving and compassionate. Her work includes paranormal mystery and traditional high fantasy, as well as contemporary and humorous fantasy and an everyday living blog. Her novella Within Reach is her first publication with Melange. Once a dedicated stay at home Mom, Jill now writes full-time. 




 
Available June 19, 2014 From Melange Books


Finding The Way Back

by Jill Bisker

Finding the Way Back is the story of Laney, a recently divorced woman who agrees to help her mother fix up her dead grandfather's house. From the first night when she hears ghostly music to later physical attacks that seem targeted only at her, she soon discovers that a spirit in the house may have plans of its own. For her own well-being, she needs to find answers as the danger escalates and she learns to trust herself and others. With the help of her cousin Connie, an attractive ghosthunter named Emmett, and several other eccentric characters, Laney uncovers the dark secret of the house and a new path for her future.


Genres
Paranormal Romance
Mystery
Heat Level: 1

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