Moments for the Heart

Hey Weekend Writing Warriors. Here we go into a new week. A week where my world didn’t seem to blow up. I thank you again for your concern and support. I was busy with work, as usual, this week. So I am writing this snippet late on Saturday night in between looking up at Seinfeld episodes with my wife. Any other fans out there? So, let’s get into our snippet, here is last weeks entry.

***I wrote a blog this last week with the question, What’s Your Story. It talks about how some may see what is on the outside, but each of us has something unique about us. I ask you to visit this blog (it is a short read) and share a quick thought about yours.***

The Five Barred Gate is a Dystopian Suspense novel that takes place about 20 years after the events after the first novel. It surrounds the life of Michael, Jacob’s son. He faces the same, but different challenges his father faced. Times are much more difficult. I am excited to revisit this world. I love my characters and getting to revisit the Dystopian genre. You can catch up with past entries here.

SYNOPSIS:

Still working on a full synopsis:

Michael Andrews is Jacob’s son. He is now the main character. His wife has been arrested for talking to someone on her trip to the store about God. Now he must find a way to fight for her release and raise their twins. He has the help of Rachel’s grandfather Frank Dunham, his parents, and a supportive attorney that will do their best to protect Rachel. But they must fight Federal and local laws that are even more strict than what his father had to deal with. They must also struggle with a corrupt accuser and an old family adversary to ensure justice is served and Rachel is able to come home to her family.

>>>If you are curious about the first novels snippets, I have them archived: Here is a link to them if you want to read up on The Fiver Barred Gate <<<

SNIPPET:

Summary:
In last week’s snippet we side stepped a bit and entered the courtroom. It was somewhat a setup for this week’s snippet. It also closed out Chapter Six. So this week we move into Chapter Seven. You can catch up with last weeks snippet here.

—First, here is a the tail end of last week:

The judge rapped her gavel on another case. Sending a forger to her sentence of six months of probation instead of one year in prison, drawing a smile upon Johnathan’s face. Their case was slotted next. From forgery to a case of a conversation gone amiss, this would be a walk in the park.

“Next case on the docket. Dr. Marsha Houston versus Rebecca Alise Andrews.”


This week we pick up right where we left off. We open up in Frank “Pop” Dunham’s home. At this point we do not know what happened in the courtroom. So, no I didn’t skip over anything. Let’s move into the conversation.


“I’m not sure I can do this, Pop,” Michael said, tracing the rim of cup of tea. It was almost eleven, but he didn’t care, he needed something hot, and he didn’t drink coffee.

Standing next to him, Frank placed his hand on Michael’s shoulder and cleared his throat. Michael understood what that meant. Years of childhood memories and ten years of marriage told him his grandfather-in-law was about to say something, as he would put it, ‘worth listn’n to.

“Michael, we are often put into situations we feel we cannot handle. But it’s in those moments we realize we have more strength than we think we have. We just need to find that source of strength.”

::There is your ten (or so). Here is a bit more to complete the scene::

Michael sighed, “I don’t know what that is, Frank. I’m at a loss. Between what Dad said and what happened today in court, I don’t know if I have the strength to face this.”

“Tell me again what happened,” Frank said as he sat at the kitchen table.

“Nothing. That’s the problem,” Michael said, running his hand through his already tossed hair and leaning against the counter.

“Try. Maybe there are some clues in it that you missed.”

Michael took a deep breath and blew it out. He fixated on his coffee cup and let his mind dissolve back to the

courtroom.“The cases for the day started out fine. The judge seemed to be in good spirits. Even Jonathan felt we were in a good position when the bailiff called our case. But for some reason, the air in the courtroom changed.”

“Changed?”

“Changed.”

“How do you mean?”

“It was like a cold front blew through. You could almost feel it. The chatter behind us quieted, the light-hearted banter between the judge and bailiff stopped, even the room seemed to darken… I don’t know, Frank. The room just changed.”

“Interesting.”

“You had to be there.”

“I would imagine,” Frank said

Have you ever been in a situation like that? Where you felt things were going good, but there was a sudden shift change and you just knew something was up, or about to go wrong? It is a crazy feeling. Our characters are experiencing this here. And true to their gut, there is a shift change here. What, they will now begin to encounter.

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Monday is Memory Monday
We remember an important event that occurred on that Monday or sometime that week.

Tuesday is Two Twenty-Two Tuesday
A weekly vlog where I talk about writing or something that’s been on my heart, all in two minutes and twenty-two seconds. — I am way behind on this… sorry.
This is posted on my YouTube channel.

Wednesday is when I post my blog for the week.
I speak from my heart on various topics from writing to faith.

Thursday is This or That Thursday
A weekly two-option poll that raises the question, do you like this, or do you prefer that?
I host this on this on Twitter, IG, and Facebook.

Friday is Fun Fact Friday
I find and share interesting or obscure facts on my pages.

Saturday is for Weekend Writing Warriors
Saturday is for Snippets from a current piece or past work.

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THIS WEEK’S WRAP-UP:

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT:
Thanks for reading this week. And for your continued support.

What an amazing week. We were able to minister to our community with having a backpack drive. I wish I had a better picture, most have not been uploaded yet. But these are the packs we had. We filled them with supplies from the school’s supply lists and handed them out on Friday night. We had about 150 packs and divided them between each grade level. We also made it a celebration and had games and snacks. I ran the popcorn stand. And yes, my belly ached with eating way too much of the provisions.


Catch up with everything. My latest blog is posted, Please check it out, it has a question that begs for an answer. What is yours?

Here’s to living the dream. God bless Writing Warriors!!

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In His Exciting Service,

Jeff S. Bray

Check out amazing established and emerging writers at Weekend Writing Warriors. Each week we post new snippets from either published works or works in progress for each other to comment on. Gain insight into how the mind of a writer works and a behind-the-scenes look at works before they hit bookstands everywhere.

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