Blossom A story of love and addiction

Blossom book one in The Forgotten Ones series

Blossom~Kate Lion

Forward

When I was young I loved to read and I read many books. As a teen, I often searched for books that would help me make sense of my life. My family was in frequent chaos and occasional crisis surrounding my father's alcoholism. As a youth I did not find a book that offered any guidance regarding my family situation.

The story that I have written also presents the problem of having an alcoholic parent. The novel Blossom presents the dilemmas that children of an addict are sometimes faced with in their lives. What is important about this novel is that it also presents resources and sources of support for those going through such an event.

It is my intention and wish to share Blossom with the world in order to ease the suffering that addiction brings to the family and the individual. I wrote Blossom as a work of biblio-therapeutic literature. It is my hope that readers will engage with and be compelled by the narrative and the character development presented in the story. It is my greater hope that readers will come to understand the disease of addiction and develop a compassion for the addicted person rather than judgment. It is my hope that some readers will be able to avert a trajectory of addiction by reading the book. It is also my hope that readers will learn about sources of support in their communities that could be made available to them if they have a parent struggling with addiction. All readers and those readers growing up in a family with an addicted parent or readers struggling with substance abuse and addiction may find tidbits-of-wisdom in the book.

For each reader, I have a wish for their happiness, their wakefulness, their compassionate development, their ability to forgive, their ability to practice gratitude and their ability to let go and be in the present moment.

In my heart I know that if this book positively impacts even one reader then the book has been a success. I think of the "Starfish" story when I say this. (A version of the "Starfish" story can be found on my webpage at www.authorkatelion.org).

This is a prayer that I have written for those who love someone who struggles with addiction and those who are addicted. May any shame or guilt that you feel evaporate from your psyche like mist in the morning. May that guilt and shame be replaced with reasonable regret and a strong urge to make amends. May you take courageous action to do so. May you create a life free of the enslaving pull of substance use, abuse and addiction. May you be deeply loved and love deeply. May you forgive yourself and others again and again. May you be kind. May you be humble. May you be grateful for who you are and for the life that you have. May you work, play, and raise your children with awareness and compassion. May all your relationships be imbued with patience and wakefulness. May you know the truth and say the truth. May you be open to hearing the truth told to you, and shown to you. May you find the higher-power, by whatever name, that will protect and guide you through your darkest moments. May that higher power allow the glimmer of the bright light of an ordinary moment to shine upon you over and over again. May you understand that living in the moment is the only place that you will ever live and have ever lived. May you live peacefully one moment at a time!

~Kate Lion~

Chapter One

Saltine Sandwiches

Blossom tripped over a vine and nearly fell on the narrow path that she was following through the darkening woods. She had to find a way out before nightfall. It was getting darker and darker. She couldn't see well in the dimming light. The trail led her to a pool of water that was too wide for her to jump over. She would have to wade through it to the other side. She took two fast steps into the water. Her feet sank into mud that was hidden beneath the dark glistening surface. She struggled to pull her feet up out of the mud. It seemed impossible. She began to sink into the dark water. It felt as if she was being sucked down into the cold waters of the pool. She frantically waved her arms and tried to reach the edge where she could see the trail. There was nothing that she could grab onto and she was sinking. She cried out, "Mom, help me! Help me, Mom! Please help! Somebody help me!"