RELEASE
DATE: February 2015
Sound is an abstract concept for most people. We spend our
lives blocking out the static in order to focus on what we believe is
important. But what if, when the clarity fades into silence, it's the obscure
background noise that you would give anything to hold on to?
I've always been a fighter. With parents
who barely managed to stay out of jail and two little brothers who narrowly
avoided foster care, I became skilled at dodging the punches life threw at me.
Growing up, I didn’t have anything I could call my own, but from the moment I
met Eliza Reynolds, she was always
mine. I became utterly addicted to her
and the escape from reality we provided each other. Throughout the years, she
had boyfriends and I had girlfriends, but there wasn't a single night that I
didn’t hear her voice.
You see, meeting the love
of my life at age thirteen was never part of my plan. However, neither was
gradually going deaf at the age of twenty-one.
They both happened anyway.
Now, I'm on the ropes
during the toughest battles of my life.
Fighting for my career.
Fighting the impending
silence.
Fighting for her.
Every night, just before falling asleep, she sighs as a
final conscious breath leaves her.
I think that's the sound I'll miss the most.
Excerpt:
"That wasn't yours to
take away," he exploded into the otherwise silent night. His words echoed
off the surrounding buildings, each wave slicing me to the quick all over
again. "That was our place. Not
yours." His voice cracked right alongside my heart.
"Yeah, well, there was
a lot of stuff that wasn't yours to take either." I held his gaze,
desperately trying to be strong, but as his eyes grew wide, I whimpered.
His long legs strode
forward, stopping only inches away from me. He was crowding me, but he still
leaned in closer to my face. "There is nothing in this world that was ever
more mine than you," he stated. Though it was the absolute truth, I wished
with all my heart that it were a lie.
"Till," I cried,
swiping the tears from my eyes.
"Why!" he
shouted, causing his muscles to tense under the force. "Goddamn it! I
needed that place."
Porch lights flashed on
from the surrounding apartments, illuminating not only the dark but also my
rage.
I shoved my hands into his
chest. "What about what I needed? You left! I waited in that fucking
apartment for weeks."
He didn't budge, but my
bare feet slipped, sending me toward the ground. Impossibly fast, Till's hand
snaked out and caught my arm. I didn't let his chivalrous gesture douse my
fire. I had six months’ worth of words to say to the man I was irrevocably in
love with.
"You took what you
wanted. Then you left me."
"Doodle," he
whispered.
I had been perilously close
to the edge of insanity, and with one single word, he’d pushed me over.
I lost it completely.
Pounding my fists against
his chest, I screamed at the top of my lungs, "It's Eliza! My name is
f**king Eliza! Not Doodle!" I spun to march away, but Till's arms folded
around me, lifting me off my feet to restrain me.
I was miniscule compared to
him. There was no use in fighting, but I still kicked my legs, irrationally
desperate to get away from him—but only because I knew I couldn't keep him for
forever.
"Stop it!" he
growled into my ear. "I know your Goddamn name—probably better than I know
my own."
Author Spotlight:
Born and raised in
Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy kids under
the age of five, including a set of twins. Currently living in South Carolina,
she passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she
can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her side.
After some encouragement
from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her ever-growing list of job
titles. Five books later, she shows no signs of slowing. So grab a glass of
Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with Aly, and join her aboard the
crazy train she calls life.
No comments
Post a Comment