Risen

I buried my wife of 55 years when she died of cancer at 72.  I remember laying in our bed that night, reaching over and finding her place empty and feeling my heart break.  I think I began dying myself in that moment.  Even as I think of it now, it hurts.  My sweet Abby had been my everything, married right out of high school before she watched me serve in Iraq and Bosnia.  When I came back, my spirit broken from the horrors of war, she was there, waiting for me.  She put me back together again and stood by me as I opened that small book shop in downtown Seattle.  Abby couldn't give me children but she shared my triumphs, and my failures, always there to catch me when I fell.  When I couldn't catch her, couldn't save her from the cancer, my life ended.

They buried me two months after my sweet Abagail went into the cold, hard ground.  My heart broken, I could no longer stand life without her.  The empty house, the cold bed, never hearing her voice calling my name again; for me, all the color had been bled out of the world.  The last thing I remembered was closing my eyes one night, the bed cold, so cold beneath me, . . .

**cover by hellvis, whose talent and skill has produced a cover truly reflective of my story.  Thanks, Ell!

**Author's Note: This is the beginning of two sample chapters in beta form that you can check out on Wattpad. Hopefully it'lll be enough to catch your interest and direct you to looking for the completed novel which will soon be available for purchase on a virtual bookshelf near you. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to send me a message. Thank you. - Shawn J. aka Bloodsword