From Coolidge To Kauai
(And Stops In Between)
by
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FROM COOLIDGE TO KAUAI takes readers from laughter to tears and unexpected twists, as in this scene:
Suddenly Daddy started clearing the top shelf of the refrigerator, throwing everything onto the floor with a vengeance.
"Stop it!" Momma shouted. "Stop it right now!"
"Shut up!" Daddy roared. "Get out of my sight!"
Standing at the fireplace, Momma reached up, took down Grandpa Burke's shotgun, broke it open and pushed in two shells. "No, Momma!" I yelled as I ripped open the bedroom door, nearly knocking Melinda to the floor. I heard Danny leaping off the bed behind me and crying out, frightened.
Daddy turned when I yelled. Seeing Momma with the shotgun he slammed the refrigerator door shut and then started for the living room. As he rounded the partition I could see her bringing up the double barrels, preparing to fire. I bolted out of the bedroom, running for Daddy, planning on pushing him out of the way.
The shotgun blast never touched him, but it knocked me off my feet, stinging my back and my head and hurling me into the partition. I bounced back, flopping on the floor, my vision quickly fading to total darkness.
An instant later I found myself in a park filled with light. Off to my right was a group of people. I didn't recognize any of them. Then a familiar figure walked past them and came up to me.
"Hi, Grandpa. What are you doing here?"
Grandpa Burke smiled, gave me a hug and then said, "I've come to show you something."
"Am I dead, Grandpa?"
—“Light from the Other Side”
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About the Book
FROM COOLIDGE TO KAUAI takes readers from laughter to tears and unexpected twists, as in this scene:
Suddenly Daddy started clearing the top shelf of the refrigerator, throwing everything onto the floor with a vengeance.
"Stop it!" Momma shouted. "Stop it right now!"
"Shut up!" Daddy roared. "Get out of my sight!"
Standing at the fireplace, Momma reached up, took down Grandpa Burke's shotgun, broke it open and pushed in two shells. "No, Momma!" I yelled as I ripped open the bedroom door, nearly knocking Melinda to the floor. I heard Danny leaping off the bed behind me and crying out, frightened.
Daddy turned when I yelled. Seeing Momma with the shotgun he slammed the refrigerator door shut and then started for the living room. As he rounded the partition I could see her bringing up the double barrels, preparing to fire. I bolted out of the bedroom, running for Daddy, planning on pushing him out of the way.
The shotgun blast never touched him, but it knocked me off my feet, stinging my back and my head and hurling me into the partition. I bounced back, flopping on the floor, my vision quickly fading to total darkness.
An instant later I found myself in a park filled with light. Off to my right was a group of people. I didn't recognize any of them. Then a familiar figure walked past them and came up to me.
"Hi, Grandpa. What are you doing here?"
Grandpa Burke smiled, gave me a hug and then said, "I've come to show you something."
"Am I dead, Grandpa?"
—“Light from the Other Side”
About the Author
J. Marc. Merrill began writing at the age of 14, starting with short stories, then novels, stage plays and screen plays. He has taught English—both composition and literature—at five colleges, including Arizona State University, Arizona State Prison for Central Arizona College, and Kauai Community College in Hawaii.
The author of the two volumes of BOOKS WRITTEN IN STONE: ENOCH THE SEER, THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA, AND THE LAST DAYS, as well as the two volumes titled BUILDING BRIDGES OF TIME, PLACES, AND PEOPLE: TOMBS, TEMPLES & CITIES OF EGYPT, ISRAEL, GREECE AND ITALY, treats readers to a collection of stories—some of them having won awards—that display the ability to stir the emotions that longer works of fiction often fail to achieve. Here are unforgettable characters and scenes that bring to life both Arizona locales and the Hawaiian island of Kauai.