The Fifth Commandment E-Book

Eve Gaal

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

After Christina breaks The Fifth Commandment, strange things begin to happen - and take her away from home in Normal, Illinois.

Now, she's back and has to tell them the story within a story, but how can she make them believe? So she had made a mistake - but didn't all teenagers do the same thing?

The Fifth Commandment is a supernatural memoir entwined with a plot drenching with old-fashioned religious guilt, and short enough to finish in a single sitting - perhaps lounging by the pool or sitting in the garden. The novella follows Christina into a confessional and starts at what we would consider our weakest point.

The point when we first admit our sin.

Leseprobe

The Fifth Commandment

Eve Gaal

Copyright (C) 2016 Eve Gaal

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2019 by Next Chapter

Published 2019 by Next Chapter

Cover art by Creative Paramita

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.

“Honor thy father and thy mother….”

Acknowledgements

My fiction work, The Fifth Commandment, can be considered either religious or paranormal fantasy. Let me just say, I'm not more religious or spiritual than any average person, but this is a story about being a kid. I have to admit I was a mischievous, somewhat rebellious child. (At least that's what they said.) Now that I'm a 'mature woman', I realize I'm not guiltier or holier than anyone else is– or was –in fact—I consider myself a humble, if flawed individual, hoping for forgiveness and looking forward to the promised afterlife. My graduate degree is in Human Behavior, not theology. I want to thank all my amazing teachers and would love to mention a long list of 'men of the cloth' who inspired me in many ways but feel they may not support my divine story, as most of it came to me in my dreams.

I often wonder whether God gets bored of our lackluster and monotonous excuses about being human. After all, it's our human-ness that separates us from being angels or gods. He may also think it's cute the same way animal behavior separates dogs, cats and all animals from humans. We enjoy watching them dance and sing online and by being imperfect, they create wonderful and often humorous entertainment.

Peter denied Jesus three times and yet, Jesus forgave him for everything. He forgives all of us for everything we do and that forgiveness inspired this novella. I hope you like it or at least find it entertaining and if you enjoyed it then I'm thanking you in advance for your short review.

Maybe something will make you relate to the guilt associated with being a teenager and wishing for different parents. Not that you, or anyone you'd know would ever think of something like that! (Smiling) Of course, I'd like to thank my angel parents and hope they forgive me for pushing my boundaries.

I'd like to thank my publisher and my talented online writing friends and blog followers for all your supportive, encouraging comments. Thank you to my best friend Yvonne for selecting the imperfect me to be Godmother to your twins. Additionally, I have to add a big thank you to my beta reader from Chicago, Dr. Amy Fremgen and my loving husband, Steve who showers me with love every day.

Dedicated to my self-sacrificing brother in Heaven and his loving twin sister, who both devoted their lives to our parents.

Prologue

A taxi speeds through Rome, Italy and a soprano's voice wafts from the tinny sounding radio, singing Puccini's famous aria, 'O Mio Babbino Caro'. It's a muggy summer day and groups from all over the world are crowding into Vatican Square. The music surges but the fast driving cab swerves, accidentally crashing into a group of tourists. Though the lyrics,'mi struggo emi tormento! O Dio, vorrei morir—Babbo, pieta, pieta!' continues to fill the piazza, it is obvious that something serious and most likely fatal has happened. Toddlers scatter, mothers chase after them and groups of nuns hurry like groups of penguins towards the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica. Blood drips slowly into the cobblestone crevices, pooling savagely around a designer purse. Women and children are screaming and crying. Heated male voices are yelling in Italian for the crowd to move away from the scene. The sound of an approaching European ambulance blends its annoying wail almost in tempo with the music. Minutes later, we hear the scratchy sound of a television announcer talking about the crash that took the life of a girl from Beverly Hills, California. The police have pulled the driver from the cab and while cuffing him, the dissonance changes to colorful and upbeat music that sounds vaguely like Panamanian calypso.