Sangeetha Kamath

Prologue Continued...  May Belle dropped the fork she was holding halfway to her mouth. It clunked noisily onto the plate full of steaming hot pancakes. She pushed the plate away with both her hands and it slid forward right to the centre hitting the crystal vase which held a bouquet of fresh daffodils. “ May Belle! Watch it”, her mother said firmly, raising a finger at her. May Belle glared at Jess whose wide toothed smile drooped as he looked around, puzzled at her reaction. Before he could ask her what was wrong, May Belle stood, pushing her chair out of the way and angrily walked towards him in measured steps. Her eyes narrowed at him. “ You know what, Jess? That Leslie has been gone a good goddamn ten years. And you call our pet calf with the name she decided?? What the heck! Why don't I get a chance to do that? Get over her already !” May Belle was hissing every word and shocking every other person present there. Jess looked on, speechless and stunned. A sudden wave of sorrow...

  Prologue    Saturday  Jesse was jolted awake in the wee hours, his skin damp, a trickle of cold sweat running down his temples. His heart was pounding like it did when he ran the marathon on the stadium track. With a sharp exhale and sigh of relief, he propped himself against the pillows and turned his gaze towards the window. The sky was cloudless after a long day of relentless rain. The bright full moon cast the pine woods across the house in a violet glow, the tree tops shimmering in a pale silver.  He remembered another night like this many seasons ago when he and Leslie ran playfully in the farm, through the cow fields and towards their secret pathway leading to… Terabithia! The fog in his mind partially lifted as a tinkling laughter like Christmas bells haunted him as a distant echo. In an instant it was overshadowed by a shrill echo sending goosebumps down his back.  An anguished scream for help, calling out, gurgling in a panic…fighting for life...