Short Stories
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Vila reads from Short Stories
Twelve stories that will bring you to tears, that will enrage you, that will make you laugh out loud. You'll want to hug those you hold dear more closely after having read this book. Click here for a free chapter for you! Get this lovely book on Kindle for a mere 99 cents! Just click and enjoy! Don’t have a Kindle device? Download a FREE Kindle for PC program from amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/pc Click here for the PDF (printable) format Click here for the Barnes and Noble’s Nook Version. |
| ISBN 978-1-4658-8803-7 |
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Twelve stories that will bring you to tears, that will enrage you, that will make you laugh out loud. You'll want to hug those you hold dear more closely after having read this book.
Excerpt from Short Stories Ah there it is and, yes, there’s dust. I’m glad to wipe it on the sheet. Poetic justice, wiping dust with the dust cover. Good. Now the table can breathe without that horrid covering. And like the others, I’ll just leave it on the floor. I want to take this picture too. Mindy can get a better frame. It deserves a nicer one. This is my grandpa, after all, trussed up in suit and overcoat, his dark beard covering his tie, a black fedora pulled down over his hair. He’s such an angular man, his limbs too long for his body. His face is stern as if his feet hurt standing there. Always focused on the man, I’d never noticed before that he stands before a gray and off-white backdrop. I wish I’d asked her as a child why he’s in an overcoat. Well, that’s a mystery I guess I’ll never know. My grandma’s hand would rest on mine, her blue veins fanning through age spots. One was shaped just like a heart. I used to kiss it. “He was a wonderful man.” Her chin would tremble. So would mine. “His laughter flowed just like the stream in April’s rain. You can’t see it in this photo, but his cheeks were always flushed, as if he’d bent over the stove or just come inside from the cold.” She’d sigh and smile as if recalling something sweet she wouldn’t tell. “And his eyes! Oh Adelaide, you never saw such deep blue eyes! I’m only sorry that my daughters didn’t get them!” They got his height and slender build, and so did Jennifer and Sue, while I was blonde and had her short square body type. I had always been smug about looking like her and being different from the rest of the clan. Grandma told me I was special because I had her build and had gotten her fair hair and deep brown eyes. “I look at you and see myself. I’ll never die while you’re alive.” She’d held my hand and watched the silver veil of rain. So when she had her stroke and died, I was convinced that I had failed, that I’d committed some grave offense that had killed her. I was only eight years old. I didn’t understand back then that death eventually lays claim to everyone. To see and hear Vila reading this excerpt click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WeaMx7-50I |
Reviewsravenwize1 has made a comment on Short Stories Villa I just loved listening to your short story. I felt for the woman and all the memories she had for her family home. A lifetime of such wonderful memories that she had. It was like I was reliving them with her. It was sad that she had to let the house go. Yet she was defiant to the end uncovering that couch and letting it live, giving it one more memory. I love the way your stories make you feel like you are right there in the story, being a part of it. Wonderful read. —
I love the stories in this book! Vila's work is always absorbing and compelling, and this book is no exception! I especially loved Grandma's House. Poignant and funny at the same time, it rang so true and just warmed my heart. Kudos to Vila for this wonderful work! — Michelle Dietrich
This is so wonderful. After reading all of the Forest Song books, now I can read a behind the scenes account of the characters. I will now go back and reread all of the Forest Song books with a new perspective. How brilliant Vila!!! — Robert Morini
Vila, you really have a way of reaching your audience that they can identify with the characters in your stories and it isn't hard to really feel the emotions of the characters. I just read them over again, and as I was reading, I was thinking of how true to life they were, because I remember feeling and still feel the feelings that they did for their loved ones and for their family home when it comes time to say good bye and pass it on to a new family who'll make their own memories in it, and it's so true how life is a circle and we must go on. I'm here, crying both with sadness, but with joy because reading the stories made me remember how sad it was to lose my gram and grand pa and the family home, but also that we must feel good knowing we leave legacies behind and that life goes on, and we helped others by passing on the home and our memories. Then, you also bring to life the history of how things were in the past and help those of us who are here, now, appreciate that if we hadn't had this past we wouldn't have what we have now. It helps the reader realize that maybe we should really treasure and learn about how people lived in the past and maybe try to capture it by maybe getting back to basics and learn that all this new technology is great, but the old ways will live on for ever and may someday come back. — Sharon Frantz
Vila has a way of bringing the reader into her stories, involving us to the point where we are hungry for more. Her short stories are long on characterization and creative details. It is Vila's attention to detail that really shows her talent. For example in the story 'Aunt Hattie' she writes about the loss of a loved one and the special times they shared at the ocean. Here is an excerpt..."as a child of the city I admired the silver-fringed beauty of the tide. I loved how it mirrored the moods of the sky, how it rushed to the shore bringing presents of shells." In this story she also talks of how her aunt had her 'listen' to the ocean, telling her the ocean is our mother and if we listen it will speak to us. Vila's love of nature and her understanding of human nature shine in her many stories. I highly recommend her books - they will not disappoint. — Reviewed by Ramona Louise Skidmore author of "Memoires Placed in the Heart"
Wow! I just finished reading Vila SpiderHawk’s Short Stories E-Book and it was fantastic! Whether you’re already a Vila SpiderHawk fan or have yet to have the “SpiderHawk experience”, you just have to download and read this E-Book immediately! Vila has outdone herself again. It has stories from her Forest Song series that acquaint you with the characters who live in those books and also other short stories that are separate from that. There is something for everyone. I loved them all. Two that I really like were "Annalise" about a woman who had lost her husband and was trying to learn how to move on. Another was "Mimi" about two new college roommates getting to know each other and becoming friends. There is some sadness in part of the story but you will have to find out yourself. Not going to give the plot away. There really is something there for everyone. Vila's descriptive writing is so vivid that you don't want to stop reading! You get totally caught up in every story. Who needs TV or movies when you can read this kind of thing? So get a copy of this e-book as soon as you can! After reading it, I am sure you will want to buy some of her other books listed. I will cherish this book forever. — Dee Melton
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