The Outback, Australia, August 1989
Jerry sat cross-legged alone on a flat top rock and stared blankly out onto the arid plain with a steaming coffee tin in hand. The brew made over the cook fire was two handfuls of grounds to the pot, its earthy aroma seemingly doing nothing to awaken his senses numbed by the whisky river that flowed the night before, the empty keg attesting.
Kelsey approached tentatively and watched his composure—either deep in thought or a mind glazed with a hangover. She looked out on the same expanse of Outback beauty—its rust-colored “gibber plains”—this stretch of the country covered in small polished rocks called gibbers. She sipped her coffee and then drew on her cigarette and exhaled a cloud that drifted up with the rising cool air that lingered on the shadowed side of the butte.
He did not sense her presence below him or as she stepped up the boulders to sit next to him. The camp was still quiet as the men slept in on their only day of the week for rest.
“How ya feelin’?” she asked, her voice a bit raspy from the cold night air that gave it a salty undertone. She responded to her question compassionately with a subdued voice. “You do have someone special in your life. You were crying out her name.” She laid her hand on his. “But you were too drunk to make any sense.”
He looked at her with no emotion, no sign of recollection. “What did I say?”
“I was holding you. You were somewhere else in a whisky-laced dream, I suppose.”
Jerry looked down at his steaming coffee and nodded with a frown. “Christina?”
“Yes. But before you passed out, you said, Jezzie.”
“Jessie?”
“No, you said Jezzie.
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Excerpt from PURSUIT – A Matter of Choice, a novel by Jeff Cambridge.
Author of transformational fiction—
Realistic characters in real life drama that tell a story of growth in wisdom and understanding that changes their outlook on life, where achievements are no longer about self or competing. Instead, life is about completing their purpose and planting a legacy of redeeming value.
To read the scenes sequentially, begin with
“PURSUIT: A Novel – Prologue”
Located in the May Blog Archive. Click on the episodes and enjoy.
This episode is pre-published. The book will be available Spring 2018.
Your comments are welcomed and appreciated. Check one of the reaction boxes below, write a comment, or email me at lightbycambridge@gmail.com.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, businesses, organizations, and locales are intended only to give the story a sense of reality and authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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One mistake changes the course of three lives…
Jessie – chasing the dark side of destiny
The daughter of an alcoholic father in prison for manslaughter and a mother who has abandoned her for her latest boyfriend, Jessie has but one objective in life – to find the big ticket out of her miserable childhood.
Christina – striving to bring comfort and light
The daughter of a nurse who served in the Army medical corps, she follows in her mother’s footsteps, pursuing her passion to care for the disadvantaged. A ballerina – a thousand eyes behold her, the dance flowing seamlessly.
Jerry – living in the grey of his circumstances
The son of a sixth-generation Kansas rancher, his desire is to make it rich – to find the American Dream. A cowboy with a tender heart and crystal blue eyes, he finds love in unforeseen places.
An allegory of destiny and choices,
of wasted dreams,
of paths that lead to nowhere…
of trials, we face every day.
PURSUIT
Where will the chosen path lead?
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Copyright 2018 © Jeff Cambridge
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