The Phoenix Collection: The Phoenix Rises and The Phoenix Burns

By Shannon Muir

Two books for one great price! This collection brings together the previously published THE PHOENIX RISES and THE PHOENIX BURNS into a single volume. Follow two generations of love, lust, libraries, and letters as a reference librarian, and later the writer daughter from her own rocky relationship embark on their adventures to finding happy ever after for now. This is part of the SPONTANEOUS CHOICES ADVENTURES collection, which feature women fueled by passion that may lead to consequences! THE PHOENIX RISES features Dawn, a middle age reference librarian, gets lessons in love and life when the library takes on its first intern, a young man named Stern. However, her spontaneous choices are not without consequences; THE PHOENIX BURNS focuses on daughter Cassandra "Phoenix" Rayner, who not long after her 18th birthday is left to take care of her ailing mother and younger siblings, and turns to completing her father's half-finished novel - a spontaneous choice that changes her future. Part of the SPONTANEOUS CHOICES series presented by INFINITE HOUSE OF BOOKS.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shannon Muir
• Release date: Sep 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301200429

Shannon Muir

SHANNON MUIR's short stories include suspense and mystery elements such as those found in her first full-length story from Pro Se Press, CHARLES BOECKMAN PRESENTS DOC AND SALLY IN "THE DEATH OF BUDDY TURNER". Additionally, she's written short stories for Pro Se Press such as “Tragic Like a Torch Song” in THE DAME DID IT from Pro Se Press, "Pretty as a Picture" in the anthology NEWSHOUNDS, “Tropical Terror” in CRIME DOWN ISLAND and “Hidden History” in EXPLORER PULP. She’s also written the Single Shot New Pulp tale “Ghost of the Airwaves,” a short story offered in electronic format only from Pro Se Press.From her personal self-published projects, her best known titles in this area include the rural crime series THE WILLOWBROOK SAGA.In other genres, Shannon's published short stories include “Meeting the Monster” in the Emby Press anthology SUPERHERO MONSTER HUNTER: THE GOOD FIGHT and "Cover Story" in ARIA KALSAN: MYSTERIES OF THE FUTURE.Shannon holds a BA in Radio-TV and English from Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington, which she considers to be her hometown. She also holds an MA in Communications from California State University, Fullerton, along with additional education in screenwriting, project management, library technician studies, and most recently a certificate earned with distinction in General Business with Emphasis in Marketing from UCLA Extension. Currently, she is working on a Masters of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University.She is married to FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY collaborator and fellow author Kevin Paul Shaw Broden. They live in California in the United States.She is a member of Sisters in Crime (national, Guppies, and Los Angeles, where she also served on the Los Angeles board for a two terms beginning in 2018), as well as the Toastmasters4Writers Chapter of Toastmasters International (where she serves as chapter Secretary), Women in Animation, and a Professional member of ASIFA-Hollywood.

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COPYRIGHT

THE PHOENIX COLLECTION: THE PHOENIX RISES and THE PHOENIX BURNS

Part of the SPONTANEOUS CHOICES ADVENTURES collection

THE PHOENIX COLLECTION Copyright 2013 Shannon Muir.

THE PHOENIX RISES Copyright 2012 Shannon Muir.

THE PHOENIX BURNS Copyright 2013 Shannon Muir.

THE PHOENIX COLLECTION

By Shannon Muir

Smashwords Edition

First Smashwords publication September 2013.

Spontaneous Choices series edition December 2015.

Infinite House of Books edition November 2016.

All rights reserved.

Smashwords License Statement

This ebook is for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be given away or resold to others. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. If you want to share this work with others please go to Smashwords.com or an affiliated distribution partner and purchase a copy for each person. Thank you for respecting the hard work of artists and creators.

Cover artwork by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden and Shannon Muir.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

# # #

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COPYRIGHT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE PHOENIX RISES

THE PHOENIX RISES - DEDICATION

THE PHOENIX RISES - AUTHOR'S NOTE

THE PHOENIX RISES - PROLOGUE

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER ONE

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER TWO

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER THREE

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER FOUR

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER FIVE

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER SIX

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER SEVEN

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER EIGHT

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER NINE

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER TEN

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER TWELVE

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE PHOENIX RISES - EPILOGUE

THE PHOENIX BURNS

THE PHOENIX BURNS –DEDICATION

THE PHOENIX BURNS – AUTHOR'S NOTE

THE PHOENIX BURNS – PROLOGUE

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER ONE

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER TWO

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER THREE

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER FOUR

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER FIVE

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER SIX

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER SEVEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER EIGHT

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER NINE

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER TEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER TWELVE

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE PHOENIX BURNS – EPILOGUE

ALSO BY SHANNON MUIR – THE HEART'S DUTY COLLECTION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

# # #

THE PHOENIX RISES - DEDICATION

To Gina M. Ruiz,

For reminding me what matters most.

# # #

THE PHOENIX RISES - AUTHOR’S NOTE

This book probably ranks as one of the more unusual beginnings I had for a story. Every year that I have lived in California since moving here in 1996 I have gone to Comic-Con International: San Diego; attending in 2011 would be the most poignant as I found myself laid off from a company where I worked for nearly four years - it would have been four years on November 1, 2011 (I started in 2007) - literally days before the event, which is considered one of the largest in our industry. Being from the volatile entertainment industry, never before had I experienced working in the same environment, albeit it in varied roles, for such an extended period of time.

As I said, Comic-Con International is a prime event in our industry to see and be seen. Fortunately, almost miraculously, I was able to rearrange travel plans to attend a day longer than I originally intended. My place to stay was a bed and breakfast in Little Italy near the freeway. One day, walking from the nearest shuttle stop back to my bed and breakfast, a phrase struck me.

The Phoenix rises.

I did not know what the phrase meant but felt compelled to write about it. However - and talk about an unprepared writer - I did not have either a notebook or computer with me to do any work on. Yet I knew I wanted to write. The only store nearby in Little Italy to my bed and breakfast was a 7-Eleven. You know the saying right, the one about thank heaven? Well, 7-Eleven lived up to it, somehow producing a small green notebook out of I don't know where. I took it down the street to my motel room where I began to pen the story of a librarian who lived as the black sheep of a family of doctors, lawyers and the like who fell hard for a young library intern. I still wasn't quite sure where the title fit, especially since I was doing this from my head without any outline. Soon though, things began to take shape.

Initially I thought it would be just a short story. I found the title on my brainstorm list for what would become my first ebook and short story/poem anthology SEARCH FOR A WOMAN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF STORIES AND POEMS LOOKING AT WOMEN FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE. As I began to work with it though, it became clear that Dawn's story clearly needed to be something more.

I picked up the story again seriously by taking advantage of a sale at the hotels at the Disneyland Resort. Living as close as I do, I'd never stayed there. I can now say I spent a night at the Disneyland Hotel, of which the goal was to give me a feel of what a family resort could be like. I worked hard to make sure that other than the most basic sense of environment, the fictional resort here and Disneyland look very different; this is not meant to be a parody, but more like a fictional competition to it that might theoretically exist. Competitors tend to do similar things to appeal to their customers.

In addition, over the course of the year leading up to this point, I obtained a Certificate as a Library Technician. This was not because I sought a career change. It is my firm belief that the understanding of the filing, storage and classification of media must be understood for many industries as they will inevitably build digital libraries. My program did not require an internship as Stern's did, but I drew on my coursework for his character.

That provides the backstory of how the first eight chapters came to be. The rest I worked on at home, while I released and promoted several other books as I searched for full time work. As of this writing I am still searching, but writing and releasing books helps me find a sense of purpose and continue to do something that I love most.

The Phoenix did rise.

Shannon Muir

Glendale, California

March 2012

# # #

THE PHOENIX RISES - PROLOGUE

I'm not sure why the phrase first occurred to me, the Phoenix rises. Yet I wasn't able to get that phrase out of my head for a long time. I forget how far back it all goes, it's so easy to lose track of time.

For a long time, I felt safe, happy, warm, loved. I'd made my place of work my life, my coworkers my family, and the office my home.

Yet nothing lasts forever.

My life began in a rather uneventful fashion, born a middle daughter in a long line of children. Our parents expected us to be become doctors and lawyers and the like, and some of us actually did easily swing up the family career paths.

All except me anyway. I became a librarian.

I wish I could say my parents held the same kind of respect for librarians as the other types of jobs held by my siblings, but sadly it was not so. I'd become something they totally unapproved of, and something they couldn't understand. I can't say didn't compute because neither of them were that tech savvy (ok, I admit, my bad attempt at a joke). Dad practiced law and Mom held the home front down doing all the hard work of mothering. Sometimes it surprised me they at least encouraged us girls to become educated and career savvy, but I never told them that. I think they wanted better for all of us, or maybe perhaps they just didn't want to fall back down any farther socially than they'd worked hard to achieve. Both their families hadn't been terribly well off and Dad worked like a madman to get through law school after marrying his high school sweetheart, who also gave birth to his oldest son before he graduated law school. Now my father worked as a criminal defense attorney, but unfortunately not a very good one.

I looked to both my parents as role models of determination as to why I chose my career.

Daddy didn't always arrange things well, and when I was young I took it upon myself to organize his law library in his home office. First I took to arranging his books alphabetically and then by volume within the alphabet, and then moved on to his law periodicals. It's not like I established any ornate filing system or even that it stayed together. This all ended in a heated argument because he couldn't find anything. My father thrived on organization; that's just the kind of man he was.

Dawn, he told me. You shouldn't try to focus on organizing other people's lives. Your own is hard enough.

But how can you find anything, Daddy? It's all everywhere, I'd insist.

Because my life is organized in a way that makes sense to me. Do not touch my books.

I listened to my Dad; I wasn't that stupid. However, as I'd later overhear him tell my Mom about all the cases he lost and all the people that didn't want to hire him, I'd often wondered if his lack of organization and structure played a role. Yet somehow he believed a disorganized life meant an eventful life, and my mother felt the same. Seeing conflicting items play out in front of me, I made it my quest to figure out the requirements for a successful life, and from there determined to find my path.

The other major factor that determined my becoming a librarian involved the influence of the school library. At first the teachers took us there just for reading and story time, and then slowly we learned how to find books and do fun reading on our own. Early on though, I became aware of books of all different kind of things, not just make believe mysteries and fairy tales. I also noticed they were not in alphabetical order; instead they had little number marking on them and were filed by the numbers. Again, here on the surface it seemed I discovered a very disorganized world! This time, however, I at least looked closer. I saw the numbers were not arbitrary. All the books on art stayed in one place, as did all the history, and so many other topics. Within the number section they stayed alphabetical by author last name. I asked my teacher about the numbers and what they all meant.

Ask the librarian, my teacher said, bored. That's her job.

Whether my teacher didn't really know or just didn't want to bother with me I never really found out. Still, I'm really glad that she did.

I took a book about painting from the shelf and brought it up to the librarian.

You want to check that out darling? the librarian asked. Her name was Mrs. Madison, her grey hair up in a bun, with blazer and slacks, very conservatively dressed even for an elementary school.

I pointed to the number fastened to the spine.

I want to know what the numbers mean, I said.

Dawn, it's like we taught you in the orientation the other week, the 700 numbers stand for the arts.

I pointed again. That was not a sufficient answer. The book did not have the number 700 on it. It was 700-and something.

But there are all kinds of 700s. What does this specific one mean? It must mean something. How was it decided this book got this specific number? How do you know the book has this number? If I went into another library, would the book have the same number?

Bless her heart, the old lady didn't chase me away but instead proceeded to give me a watered-down primer on the Dewey Decimal System, using my selection from the 700 series as a specific example. She also mentioned the Library of Congress Subject Headings in passing but said I'd have to be a bit older for those. On subsequent visits, we unpacked it bit by bit. At that point, I was only in the sixth grade. My career path had become pretty well set at this point, much to my parents’ chagrin.

Dawn, there's no money to be made in being a librarian, they would warn to me years later as I prepared for college, all my life's effort being focused on that goal and not on social life in the least. Finding places with scholarships for academic performance stayed high on my list as I knew that Dad's money would keep me from financial scholarships and in no way, would he underwrite this academic endeavor. Even so, he also currently worked on sending other siblings in my house to school that were in no position to pay him back. So, I believe it turned out to be very fortunate for me that I was determined to make my own way.

# # #

THE PHOENIX RISES - CHAPTER ONE

After completing my studies and getting my Masters' in Library Science, I ultimately found myself main reference librarian in a quaint little college town where I stayed for years. I stuck to my routine, spent most it working, and when I wasn't working home at my apartment reading. That about matched what I did all throughout my college years; with no young men interested in dating me, I stayed close to the books and at the top of my class. I won't lie, a couple of the fellows in school did catch my eye, but in nearly every case it turned out they already had someone else on their arm, or in the rare case they were available I got rejected when I finally got up the nerve to ask them. After a while, I just stopped even thinking about that and focused on my studies, my career, and myself.

Looking back, I probably became interested in all that organizing books because doing so brought order to my own chaotic life and helped me access broadening my horizons – or at least what felt like it – by getting into books. Between these two, I felt I brought order to the chaos of my life. In addition, putting the lives of others in order as can sometimes happen by being a reference librarian and giving guidance, made me feel necessary and also not always brood on my own state of affairs. Now my life would become completely disorganized, and totally thrown into chaos, by our workplace's decision to start partnering with the new Library Technician program being started at the local community college. I never saw it coming. Because work was my life, I trusted everyone I worked with explicitly. They all seemed to act kind towards me. I never imagined any of them doing something to hurt me or not trusting me. Yet it would be my working alongside these people that changed me forever.

The young intern's name was Stern Rayner, on his last semester of community college study for the Library Technician certificate. The school put him forward as the best student in the premier year of the program, and wanted to put to the test in our new intern partnership. Mrs. Geraldine Farnham, the Head Librarian who ran the ship for years, was more than happy to have an extra hand in such tough financial times for libraries.

The Head Librarian, Mrs. Farnham, called all of us together one Friday right as the library closed.

"Everyone, be aware that on Monday we will have our first intern as part of a new learning agreement with the local community college. They instituted a formal Library Technician program and their first batch of candidates is scheduled to graduate this year. With that in mind, they sent me resumes of a couple very promising students to intern. The name of the one I selected is Stern Rayner, and you will meet him Monday.

Stern will come to be with us for three days a week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Mondays, he will work us to help file and restock backlog from the weekend, Friday to get ready for the weekend, and Wednesday because that was the remaining day that fit with his class schedule. Have a good weekend.

Our staff reflected mixed feelings about taking on an intern as part of our group, and shared their opinions before we opened on the day the intern would arrive but making sure we weren't in earshot of the Head Librarian, who interviewed the intern candidates and selected the person we would be working with.

We're swamped enough as it is, complained Doris, who took care of our adult services. Having someone who has never been around a library before is just going to slow us down.

We will just have to handhold this person through everything, and not be able to get our own work done, commiserated Susanne, who administered both the children's and young adult areas of our library.

This might turn out to be good, I tried to encourage the others. We really can't knock this until we see how it goes. Besides, we were all younger college students once looking for opportunity. Just remember what it was like when you were his age.

The others all sighed.

I'd be happier to not have the hassle, groused Wyatt, who worked as head of circulation. Wyatt groused about a lot of things though, unless he would be able to get his way.

Arianne, our cataloger, just quietly walked off to her office without comment. However, that reflected how Arianne handled most things and didn't surprise me much.

Apparently, the intern could only expect any kind of warm welcome from myself and Mrs. Geraldine Farnham, or Mrs. Farnham as she insisted we call her, not by her first name.

I tried to envision the kind of person behind a name like Stern. It sounded like a leading man from one of my favorite kind of books. I envisioned someone tall, rugged, well-chiseled in every way. For the first time, I became conscious of how much a name could evoke.

My dreams were not realized when a baby faced, glasses wearing, slightly overweight young man arrived Monday morning. As instructed, he'd first checked in with Wyatt at circulation who then sent him my way and I was to let Mrs. Farnham know he'd arrived. He patiently waited his turn in line where I just thought he needed another question answered.

When he came up to the desk, I started out with the standard spiel.

Well, I need to locate Mrs. Geraldine Farnham, the Head Librarian. That guy over from circulation waved me over to you. Oh, how rude of me.

He offered a hand for a handshake.

I'm Stern Rayner, the new intern.

At that moment, I had no clue that I shook hands with the person who would change my life.

Dawn, why don't you introduce Stern to the staff here? Mrs. Farnham suggested.

It kind of surprised me that she sent me away from the desk while she stayed and worked it, especially when she complained about Harold being missing. Yet, she was the boss and I wasn't going to fight it. I made sure to track down the major players at the library, such as Susanne Hayford in children's services, Doris McLean from adult services, Arianne Jones in cataloging, and our main library assistant Raymundo Alvarado.

Stern, this is Raymundo Alvarado, the closest thing we have to a library tech right now, I explained, introducing him to an older Latino man with salt and pepper hair who looked kind and grandfatherly.

Good to meet you, young man. You are Stern, correct?

Stern nodded.

Well, my demeanor isn't like my name, sir, he quickly added.

I can see that, Raymundo replied with a laugh. I will be happy to help in any way I can. I love this place. Such a change from the firehouse.

Raymundo caught Stern's puzzled reaction before I had to jump in and explain.

Oh I forget you don't know. I started as a fireman. But eventually I got burned out on that. Metaphorically speaking that is.

Wow, Stern said. Someone with your skills would be great to have around too if fire endangered the library too. I mean so much of this is still paper.

Raymundo beamed just a little, which surprised me. I hadn't seen him do that in a while, especially not in reference to his firefighting skills.

Thank you, young man. I look forward to working with you later.

Stern wasn't overly social, a bit of a loner type like me, the guy who at one glance you think might have total trouble getting the girl. In some ways, it is no surprise that was my first impression of Stern, though my life interacting with people was my work, at night I retreated home to my apartment where I got lost in various romance novels living out more exciting dramas than my own life.

I wasn't a stranger to the concept of romance, despite a conscious lack of it in my own life. Ever since my teen years, where the boys weren't asking me out on dates, I gravitated to checking out what I could manage to obtain from the young adult area that had anything to do with romance – though in my day the area catering to this age range wasn't as lucrative as it is today, being that I now am in my early forties. Young adult marketing and content evolved a lot in the twenty years in between.

I read about girls experiencing things that I wouldn't have any hope of given average looks and parents who wouldn't let me date. Therefore, I came to live vicariously through the books. I dreamt of first kisses, proms, and more as I would never know any of them beyond the stories in the books and the whispers and rumors in the halls at school of people really experienced it. Eventually, I became focused on the books and turned out the world outside after my few failed attempts at trying for social relationships. I continued with the books my way of filling that void.

As I got older, I graduated if you will to more adult themed romances, including at times more graphic stuff. I didn't really think people could do some of the stuff that was discussed in terms of how they played together. Some scenarios described physical interaction without any love, which I could comprehend even less, perhaps because I so sought to be loved. My family didn't care about me, and I struggled to get close to others. Even though I questioned some of the scenarios that I read about, even in my adult years, it remained my escape from the regular world in my own organized way in my own controlled manner. The one thing I could not comprehend would be that not every aspect of my life would always be under my control.

The few times I got invited out socially would be through work. One such occasion that occurred not long after Stern arrived. The women of the office (basically, everyone but my often-missing reference desk partner Harold Trent and our volunteer library assistant Raymundo Alvarado) got invited to the baby shower for the wife of our head of circulation, Wyatt Grey. We'd all met Wyatt's wife Rose, so there wasn't anything odd about that. As usual, though, I wasn't sure how to carry myself socially.

What kind of gift do I get Rose? I asked Doris from adult services. I hardly know her.

That's what the gift registry online is for my dear, she replied while clearly suppressing a laugh. They've already made a list of what they want and you just select things.

I felt very silly I had to ask, but this event would be my first invite to an event like this. All of the other women already had children when I met them, or in the case of Arianne in cataloging, didn't have any children yet. Mrs. Farnham's and Raymundo's children already were adults, Doris had teenagers, and Susanne from children's services had children just starting school.

They held the party at Wyatt's house, where we played various silly games I didn't quite understand then settled down to a casual dinner consisting of salad and chicken. After a while I just felt out of place so started wandering while others gossiped as they ate.

I found Wyatt alone on the back porch.

I know a baby shower is more ladies only, I told him. I'd expected you to go hit the town somewhere.

Dawn, there's really not anywhere I want to go, he told me, with a sad tone.

Come on, Wyatt, cheer up. You have a beautiful wife. A baby's coming. Many men would be happy to be in your shoes.

It's not my baby, Wyatt grumbled, then instantly realized what he'd said. Dawn, don't you say a word. No one is supposed to know.

I pointed back towards the house.

She's not been faithful to you?

Dawn, it's none of your business. Just let it go. Get back inside.

My feet stayed frozen on the porch. Not being faithful only happened in stories. I didn't know of any real-life cases.

I told you to go inside.

Instead of walking in, something compelled me to move towards Wyatt. I didn't want to leave him alone.

That's a lot to carry alone, Wyatt, I told him, concerned. You're brave to stay with her.

I'm not sure it'll last, he told me sadly.

At that moment, to my surprise, he hugged me and held me close. I felt my breasts press into his shape. If he wasn't married and policy at the library prohibited coworker dating no telling what would have happened next.

Dawn, where are you? Arianne from cataloging called out. Wyatt and I broke the embrace. We're opening gifts.

I better get back to the party, I said awkwardly, returning to the foreign celebration. I watched Rose open each gift, and she legitimately seemed pleased with each one. The thing I found interesting was that if Wyatt was right regarding what he told me about his wife, she didn't seem to be nervous or have any discomfort at all from hiding anything. Usually in books I read, the guilty struggled to hide the truth. Those better described characteristics Wyatt had. It made me wonder for a moment about his stability as a coworker.

And now, here's Dawn's gift, someone called out.

Hearing my name returned me to concentrate on the celebration, and I forgot about Wyatt for the moment.

To be honest, I really felt relieved to return to my own condo when the festivities ended. All the other women started talking about wanting to have children, or children they already had, or interactions with nieces and nephews. I mean, nieces and nephews I have, but since my siblings never talk to me, I've never had the experience of seeing them grow up. I didn't have any frame of reference to participate in any of the social discussions going on. I just didn't feel like I fit.

Times like that, I really needed to keep reminding myself of my value and self-worth, but it wasn't ever easy. I focused