Arms Open Wide: Short Fiction

By CJ Hawk

A short fictional story that inspires one to overcome the things in life that we never want to deal with. Death can never be an easy emotion to deal with, yet one family must come together and make things work out as best they can.
One woman's journey after dealing with the death of her sister comes complete through her personal experiences and open-minded approach. When fate dealt Mica a bad event, one that she felt responsible for, she had to open her heart to new possibilities. From the darkness of disaster, one family must come together to allow their lives to continue.
By opening her heart to those that want to help her, one woman finds a way to deal with the death of her sister. She makes new friends and meets the man her departed sister had always wanted her to meet. Fate has a way of turning a disaster around.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CJ Hawk
• Release date: Oct 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301506545

CJ Hawk

I am an independently published author that finds scraps of time to write with intentions to escape the perils of a working life while owning and operating three small businesses with my husband, raising teen boys, sixteen paws (yes four shelter dogs) and a tank full of fish that keep multiplying on their own every time we look for baby fish – free fish anyone? For all of the chaos, testing of mental fortitude, strength and intuition I have endured, I have a lot to be thankful for.Recent years have put my dedication to writing time on the back burner. There were a few major surgeries within my immediate household, to then have major changes in life in general. As of 2015, I lost my mother to the final battle of Ovarian Cancer. She was a strong independent woman that I loved deeply but often saw things quite a bit differently, yet only a mother knows, you love your child no matter what - and that love will always find a way.Between our business, teens, my mother’s cancer battle and life, I have found a renewed sense of what makes me content when the tides are trying to drown me... and that is to be creative in any whimsical way that nudges me. I am back to writing full force when time allows, painting, gardening, taking pictures, knitting or my all-time favorite thing that helped me morn my loss, scrapbooking. All of these things are so very therapeutic and to be able to share with others, gives me joy.I hope you like my books, not perfect as they could be; but life is not perfect and is meant to be enjoyed nonetheless. – CJ Hawk

Book preview

Arms Open Wide

General Audience Fiction Novella

Published at Smashwords.com and Copyright 2013 by Caitlin Blue and CJ Hawk

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and strictly fictional. All persons, places or incidences are creative endeavors of the author and by no means are any viewpoints in this book a perspective of the author's lifestyle or opinions. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people without the author's permission. Lendable copies are the exception. Cover and inserts may be used for editorial reviews.

Table Of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Sample Chapters of The Quintessential Housewife

Sample Chapters of Princess Peculiar

Chapter One

This month, give your inner control the day off. Once you stop trying to force things to fall in line with your plan, you open yourself up to surprising opportunities. Welcome new people into your life with open arms, and secret doors to opportunities will appear. Dip your toes into a dissimilar scene, circulate with a fresh group of peeps, invite friends of friends to hangouts. Stay receptive. That person on the periphery could very well be an intended kindred spirit. A new group of peers is calling your name or an old group refreshed. Do not disservice yourself by writing them off because you are already committed to another group, especially if you are not getting the same return of affection that you are used to. Outgrowing your friends should give you nothing to feel guilty about. Give yourself permission to explore some new environment. Do not lock into this new crowd as you might not be ready, however, that is part of your journey. Base your decision on what YOU want, and not what you think others expect of you. At the end of the month, follow your latest impulse. Strike up conversations with strangers. A new connection could transform into an enticing surprise, or pertain to a serious discussion about doing business together. It's all about doing what feels right with a sense of new to it."

Mica read her personal horoscope for the month aloud as she sat on the bench positioned facing the ocean with the boardwalk of activity behind her. However, a wave of emotion rolled over her, as she knew that how things turned out was far different than she had ever imagined.

She skimmed the lines of the horoscope on her cell phone again and realized that what her sister was doing was fate; she was only fighting it because she did not want to conform to society yet she did miss her sister. Now, she would miss her forever.

Mica's last conversation with her sister was not one she was proud of as it went something like this.

Her sister Meredith's overly excited stressed voice shouted through the cell phone speaker. Mica! It would really be nice if you just took a few weeks and drive this way to see the kids for a change. It's been over two years, and they have no idea who their only aunt is.

Oh please. She started in. Michael and Hannah know who I am. It's not like they could ever forget that summer I stayed and we... Meredith cut her off quick. The memory of that visit was not as pleasant for Meredith, and it was for Mica and the kids. As for Michael, Meredith's twelve-year-old son, he had been ten at the time and loved watching Mica blow things up with what she liked to call science experiments. How did she know he was going to take it to the extreme and blow up the bully's, from up the block, mailbox full of dog poop - which he had stuffed in the mailbox first? Hannah, now fourteen but was twelve at the time, took notes and said she would use this for her science report.

Don't please me. Meredith's interruption told Mica that she was already stressed out before she called her and there was something else wrong.

Mica decided to try to calm the situation. Did you get that DVD on meditation I sent you?

Geeze Louise, Mica. You don't get it. While you are traipsing around the coast like a sixties wild child, in your pink VW camper and your mobile art gallery, the rest of the world is dealing with jobs and mortgages and children. When are you going to grow up, find a man and get married? Better yet, use that degree mom and dad paid for that has nothing to do with painting watercolors and selling on the ocean-front walkways like a homeless person.

Boy, that was a mouthful of thought all rolled up into a perfect salesmanship approach to trying to convince Mica that her sister's life was better than her somehow. However, what Mica was really getting out of it was that Meredith's life had hit a stressor point and picking on her freeloading, no stress ways, made Meredith somehow feel superior to her little sister, which she has always done.

Mica began to repeat her inner mantra that she always uses when her sister, who she did love, by the way, tried to upset her. 'Ohm, I will not let her get to me. Ohm, I love my sister, but I am not her. Ohm, I can respond in calm.'

However, some mumbled nonsense about getting down here or else from her sister had her reacting faster than she wanted to. What the heck Meredith. You can't just call me and tell me that.

What Meredith actually said while Mica was doing her inner chat was that she had enough of her vagabond lifestyle and was going to do a life intervention with other family members to get them to convince her to plant her feet somewhere, get a job with her business degree, and date some guy that she found for her.

Oh you heard me! Meredith shouted into the phone with even more stress and anger in her voice than Mica had heard in a long time. You are wasting away your life while I found you the perfect man that will tolerate your wild child ways.

Considering the men that Mica had hooked up with lately that were not marriage, let alone steady boyfriend material, it did hold some type of romantic allure. She had been wanting to see the kids and teach them some new science experiments that she saw on YouTube. She had and to be honest with herself, being broke and selling art for cheap because you are broke was getting old. However, she did not want to face up to the truth that her sister was speaking. She would nudge a little but not all the way. As she came to her own inner conclusion of what she was going to do, she found herself very excited to see her sister soon as it had been too long.

She did not want her sister to be any more worked up than she already was, so she simply replied. I can make it out there next month and stay for a few weeks. Will that make you feel better?

No. Now, Miss little contrary, you get your VW camper here by the end of this week or so help me God; I will... This time Mica lost her cool and interrupted her sister.

"You'll what. Fly out here, hire a private eye to find me and report back to dad that I wasted the college he paid for. I'd like you to know that I cleared, after