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The First Rains of October
Last Updated on Monday, 28 December 2009 08:44
A Spellbinding New Christian Novel Explores Crime, Punishment and the Ultimate Gift of Redemption
Excerpt: Chapter one
Graduation Night—June 4, 1965
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hen August St. Claire ran off that cliff she dropped like a rock. True, she was running and her legs kept kicking in the air—but then gravity yanked on her ankles. There was simply no way to tell when she’d hit. It was pitch black and foggy, all she could see were her feet descending ahead of her. She instantly grasped the situation; she didn’t flail or flap her arms. Instead, she pressed them tightly to her sides, the way young girls do when they jump into a freezing swimming pool. August realized in that split second that being an arrow was her best chance for survival. If she didn’t shatter on the rocks below first, if somehow she miraculously missed all the craggy spikes and plunged into that deep hole, deep enough to envelope her long fall from the cliff above—then she might live. That’s when she screamed.
August didn’t have time to be afraid or to remember that she was naked, her underwear clenched tightly in her right fist. There wasn’t even time to review her life and remember all those thankful moments you never wish to forget. She grabbed deep breaths hurriedly and exhaled quickly, deciding to fill up with as much air as she possibly could. Then she whimpered to herself and waited.
As she pierced the water-line the foam looked almost soft. And as she descended, the sea closed taut against her skin and it hugged her so tightly that for just a sliver of time the water felt warm—a breath later, stinging ice pricked her skin. She’d never felt cold like this in her life. Like a bullet, she pierced deeper and darker. And she cried.
Descending, August had moments to think and was relieved that she hadn’t met her death on the rocks above. If she’d had clothes on she’d have been dragged down forever. Even now, somehow her mind gripped the truth; if she didn’t stop this descent, she’d never make it back to the surface. So she began flapping her arms and ratcheted her kicking so that a little bit at a time she slowed her descent. Except after a few more seconds she realized in the depths of her soul that it wasn’t fast enough; she couldn’t stop the descent quickly enough. She wasn’t going to be able to slow herself from the long fall. August was going to die down here, in this dark, empty, numbness.
