Begin Again: Short stories from the heart
Read Begin Again: Short stories from the heart Online
Authors: Mary Campisi
Begin Again
is a collection of emotion-filled short stories that served as a springboard for Mary
Campisi’s
later novels, including the much talked about
A Family Affair
. Along with her short stories, Mary also shares how the themes from these offerings led to full-length works.
This collection includes:
Beauty, Suffocating in Suburbia, Sam & Jack, The Landlord, Oh Christmas Tree, The Death of Mary Alice Olivetti
, and
Across the River
. Mary also provides alternate endings for
A Family Affair
and
Pretending Normal
.
Begin Again:
Short stories from the heart
by
Mary Campisi
Table of Contents
Chapter 2:
Suffocating in Suburbia
Chapter 6:
The Death of Mary Alice Olivetti
For those who believe in the beauty of the second chance.
Some time ago, I began cleaning out files and came upon several short stories I’d written years earlier. Of course I had to read them all. I look at writing as a continual learning process—the more I write, the more I learn about it. More importantly, the more I learn about myself. I wrote some interesting pieces, some first person, some with animals as the characters delivering the greater message, some with points of view that bounce back and forth—kind of like trying out different tennis shoes or brands of coffee to see what suits me best—at the moment.
One thing I discovered was my repeating theme—that old second chance, usually hindering on betrayal of some sort. I have lived through and seen the fallout of other people’s bad choices, but I have also survived and breathed the hope of the second chance.
What I write is merely a perspective on something I’ve chosen to explore. Relationships in many forms intrigue me. I’m also a huge champion of the underdog—throw bad stuff on a main character and just when you think she will suffocate in the muck, she’ll dig her way out and be much stronger for that very muck. Love that stuff. I also write about people who make choices for a perceived happiness or because they aren’t up to the task of the ‘hard stuff’ of living. Sadly, they lose in the end, like Gloria Blacksworth, of
A Family Affair
. There are also those like my buddy, Harry Blacksworth, again of
A Family Affair
, who have dodged accountability for years and despise themselves for it. Redemption comes in many forms and for those who can tolerate Harry’s vulgar mouth and incessant womanizing to glimpse the fractured soul beneath—there is hope for him.
I’m offering these stories to readers so they may see how certain novels evolved.
Chunks of thought, bits and pieces of a theme, all topsy-turvy but eventually smoothing out into a full novel.
Or two.
Or ten.
Enjoy!
Beauty
He watched her as she stroked the brush across the canvas, her long, black hair swaying with each movement. She wore it loose today and he knew it would smell of raspberries and honey. How many times had he imagined her standing just like this, the late afternoon sun casting her face and body in perfect profile?
“Angela.”
His voice startled her and the paintbrush thudded to the tiled floor in a splash of bright red. She lowered her head and did not turn.
He moved toward her, stopped when he was less than ten feet away. “Angela,” he breathed again. And then, he forced out the word he’d carried with him for five months, over an ocean, across a continent, through dozens of cities. “Why?”
Her shoulders drooped and he thought of the smattering of tiny moles high on her right shoulder. He’d once told her they reminded him of the constellation Orion and she’d gifted him with a laugh—rich, golden, mesmerizing.
“Do you have any idea how many
Jensens
there are in Minnesota?
Three hundred fifty-two.”
Why wouldn’t she look at him, at least give him that? “I know you’re probably wondering how I even knew to look in this state, after all, Rome is a long way from Minnesota.” He let out a small laugh but it plunged to the floor and splattered between them.
Her head bent lower, and still she said nothing.
“I guess I have Mary Tyler Moore to thank,” he went on, wondering if she was going to shrink inside herself right in front of him. “You told me how your mother loved that show and how she’d take you into the city, to the same street where Mary Tyler Moore yanked off her hat and threw it in the air. You used to do the same thing, see how high you could throw it.” How ridiculous, that an insignificant scrap of conversation would lead him halfway across the world… to her.
He took a step closer.
“No!” She held up a hand, bent her head lower. “Please. Leave.”
“Angela—”
“Please.”
The request gouged the center of his heart. He couldn’t leave, not without answers. “Look at me and tell me Rome meant nothing to you.”
When he knew she wasn’t going to answer, he said, “I don’t get it. We share three incredible weeks together and then I leave for a four-day assignment and the whole time all I can think about is getting back to you. But when I return, everything’s gone—you, your paintings, us. And all anybody wants to talk about is the guy who went berserk and threw acid on ‘beauty.’”
Had she just whimpered? And then it dawned on him. “It was
your
work he destroyed, wasn’t it? That’s why you ran away.”
She tried to bury her face in her hands but he stepped in front of her and grasped them. Swollen red scars smeared the left side of her once flawless skin. “Angela.”
She spoke then, a mere whisper of breath. “Now you understand. Please. Leave.”
He reached out, trailed his fingers over the red flesh with reverence. How could she think he didn’t want her anymore? Didn’t she know her physical appearance was just a shell that housed the real beauty—her heart, her soul?
Didn’t she know he loved her, would always love her?
“Beauty,” he whispered, placing his lips where his fingers had been, planting small kisses on her scarred flesh.
“My beauty.”
The End
It would appear I like to write about that one true love that does not die or fade, no matter time or circumstance.
Beauty
is a very short story in which a couple meets, has an instant connection and then is separated. The hero searches for his one true love—tirelessly, with determination, and boundless hope. When he finds her and learns the tragic story that has shattered her and caused her to give up all hope for a life with him, he embraces her and loves her more. Boy, don’t we all want that? When our man sees us without makeup, ten pounds… okay, twenty pounds heavier…. distressed, throwing up, you name it…. don’t we want to know he will still love us? No matter what we toss in his way—as a test of sorts? The books that grew out of
Beauty
are
Pulling Home, Paradise Found
, and
The Way They Were
. At some point, I would like to write a book based on the premise behind
Beauty
.
Maybe three parts.
His story, hers, and theirs.
For those who have not read the aforementioned titles, I’ve provided a brief overview of each.
I would like to take this moment to mention my subconscious affinity for selecting titles that begin with ‘P’…. I would also like to state that those days are done!
It's all about that second chance...
Sometimes we're lucky enough to get that second chance-in life and in love. That Second Chance Series are stories of strong women who battle heartache and loss with courage and determination to find new paths and true love. These books are standalones and are NOT related. Therefore, the characters from one story will not appear in another. What ties them together?
A common theme-belief in the beauty of that second chance.
That Second Chance Series:
Book One: Pulling Home
Book Two: The Way They Were
Book Three: Simple Riches
Book Four: Paradise Found
Pulling Home
She'll risk anything to save her child...even the truth.
It's taken nine years and a cross-country move, but Audra Valentine
Wheyton
has kept her secrets safe. She's created the perfect life-a husband who loves her, a daughter she adores, and a position as head writer of an award-winning daytime soap. When her husband dies suddenly, Audra returns to her hometown for the funeral and faces a community that has not forgotten her meager beginnings and a man who has never forgiven her for marrying his brother.
Jack
Wheyton
is a successful pediatric neurosurgeon who is about to become engaged when Audra walks back into his life with her daughter. He forgave his brother long ago for taking something that had been his, something he hadn't even realized he wanted until it was gone. But forgiving Audra is another story...and forgetting her? Near impossible.
When a shattering illness strikes Audra's daughter, she turns to Jack to save her child and risks exposing a secret that will change their lives forever.
The Way They Were
Tragedy tore them apart. Destiny will bring them back together.
He hasn’t spoken her name in fourteen years. She keeps a journal hidden in the back of her closet and permits herself to write about him once a year—on the anniversary of the first and only time they made love. They promised to love one another forever, but tragedy tore them apart. Now, destiny may just bring them back together.
At eighteen,
Rourke
Flannigan and Kate Redmond thought they’d spend the rest of their lives together—until a family tragedy tore them apart. Fourteen years have passed and they’ve both carved out separate lives hundreds of miles apart—hers as a wife and mother, his as a successful, driven businessman. But once a year, on the anniversary of her daughter’s birth, Kate pulls out a red velvet journal and writes a letter, which she’ll never send, to the man who still owns her heart. Once a year, on the anniversary of the first and only time they made love,
Rourke
permits himself to read the annual investigative report detailing an ordinary day in Kate’s life.
When a subcontractor at one of
Rourke’s
holding companies is killed,
Rourke
decides to pay the widow a visit and offer condolences, never dreaming the widow will be Kate. As they embark on a cautious journey of rediscovery, one far greater than they could have imagined, secrets and lies threaten to destroy their newfound closeness—forever.
Paradise Found
How does one see truly--with the heart or with the eyes?
Matt Brandon has it all—wealth, power, looks, and talent. Women want
him,
men want to be like him. When a freak ski accident strips him of one of life's most basic needs—his sight—he struggles to accept the possibility that his blindness may be permanent.