The Road to New Hope: A "Charlie Odel" novella

By George Curcio

A compelling yet humorous journey through life, seeking to answer the question of what really matters. Charlie and Harley Odel are two brothers joined at the hip as youths, until a cataclysmic event separates them as adults. One is a pastor, the other a free spirit, yet their divergent paths lead them to the same ultimate dissatisfaction with their lives. Join them on their journey through life!

Charlie Odel is a small-town Southern Baptist preacher in New Harmony, NC. He finds himself at a crossroads professionally and personally, thanks mainly to an estrangement from his younger brother Harley. Unbeknownst to Charlie, Harley is also suffering anxieties as he takes account of his life.

As youths, Charlie and Harley were inseparable. As adults, a gigantic chasm exists between them, stemming from one incident years ago. Charlie has become a Southern Baptist preacher and is looking towards God for the answers to his dilemma. Harley, meanwhile, has taken the exact opposite approach, looking to his fellow man. Ironically, neither of them find satisfaction in their efforts.

"The Road to New Hope" explores many of the themes with which we struggle in our daily lives, including anger, resentment, forgiveness, and the ultimate meaning of love, through subtle looks inside the minds of the main characters and continued revelation of their developing thoughts and feelings.

Their efforts to answer life's questions lead the reader to attempt to do the same. Join them on their mental, emotional and actual journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: George Curcio
• Release date: Mar 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310139451

George Curcio

George Curcio lives in DeLand, Florida, with his wife, three cats, two dogs and bird.George has been involved in writing and editing all of his adult life, actually starting when he was a teenager working for a local newspaper.George retired from full-time employment after surviving a massive stroke in 2007. Now fully recovered, his recuperation was long and challenging. Having made it through, George is ready to devote attention to his lifelong hobby and love of writing.George's initial book, "The Road to New Hope," is a fictional novel in which he addresses (and tries to answer) some of the questions he has asked throughout his lifetime. At the least, he hopes to make the reader think in ways that are new and revealing, especially to one's self.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The alarm buzzed throughout the room until slapped to silence by a whistling hand.

Jesus Christ, exclaimed Charlie Odel as he rolled from his side on to his back. You are my Lord and Savior, and we give thanks and praise for yet another day about to begin.

It was a bright summer morning in Harmony Corner, North Carolina, as Charlie could quickly see by the stream of sunlight beaming from the window into a focused spiral across the room.

Not just any summer morning, but a Sunday summer morning, the day that started and ended each of Charlie’s weeks. As pastor of the Harmony Corner Baptist Church, it was the day for which he lived, and, in recent months, the day on which he felt like dying.

Where has the exuberance gone? Charlie found himself asking each morning, with Sundays being especially anguished. What’s happened to the passion that should be within me? How can I feel so dead to the world when preaching about the ecstasy of being reborn through Jesus Christ?

Charlie found the questions both haunting and daunting. He could not put them aside, nor could he step around them. They were everywhere he looked, in everything he saw. Much like the glory and power of the Father had been until recently.

The sunlight streaming across the room still retained a hint of God’s presence as Charlie saw it filter through. He looked at the narrowing beam, following it from his entry point at the window until it focused into a point bouncing off the wall.

He noticed how the light seemed broken into particles, bits of dust dancing within it. It reminded him of his life, broken into a series of disjointed pieces within while appearing to be whole when viewed from the outside.

For the first time since awakening, he noticed his wife still sleeping in the bed beside him. Whereas there was a time he would have smiled, he pursed his lips grimly, wondering why that time had passed.

What kind of man am I? he asked himself, a ritual that had come to start each of his days. What do the others see when they look at me?

Chapter 2

Charlie’s concern with the others and their view of him was well-founded, for it was the others who defined his life. He was their pastor, the center of their attention whose every move and action was observed, scrutinized, analyzed, dissected and discussed.

This had always been a source of pride to Charlie, for he had never felt out of step with God’s plan for his life. Being firm in his walk with the Lord always led him to walk with his head held high, his strides befitting that of a man on a mission, with a clear understanding of what that mission was. Steadfast and serene had always been synonyms for Charlie Odel.

Now, with his convictions eroded by doubt, Charlie wondered if his inner confusion was evident in his outer appearance. No longer happy to be the center of attention, he now teetered on the edge of resentment. No longer welcoming of everyone’s focus and the chance to show them what a man looked like when he was right with God, it now took all he had within him to endure each step of his daily walk through life.

Whether at church or elsewhere, he was never off-duty. Every eye was always upon him, and he could never relax. Were he to do so, he might make a mistake, which, no matter how minor, could mean the loss of his job and possibly the end of his career.

Until recently, it had never been a problem and rarely, if ever, had entered his mind. But now, it had taken up permanent residence, the doubts leading to the next disturbing question: if it were to happen, would I really care?

The rewards had never been financial, as is usually associated with employment, but there was reward in knowing that everyone looked up to and respected him. Charlie was well aware of this, often referring to himself self-deprecatingly as nothing more than an itinerant preacher, a peasant under glass. He loved that phrase, appreciating it more than most people with whom he shared it.

He saw it as his reflection of Christ, abandoning material concerns to live a life for others to emulate. From it, Charlie derived a great sense of pride, and now, although he was not aware of it, his present condition seemed a reflection of pride going before the fall.

Chapter 3

The question lingered in Charlie’s mind constantly: have I fallen?

He was not sure exactly what to make of what was happening within him. He did know that it was happening in all aspects of his life. The effects were mental, emotional and spiritual. But was one leading to the other? Were they all the result of some other trigger that affected his total being?

The more he tried to decide, the more confused he became, with frustration mounting. As he tried to pull apart this overwhelming ball of thread, he became more entangled in it.

The ultimate frustration was in having nowhere to turn. Charlie was the one to whom others had always turned in times like these. To where, and to whom, was he to turn?

Arising from bed, he planted his feet on the floor, and looked at his reflection in the mirror. No one was looking back. The contrast of the appearance with the reality was stunning. He was bathed in the streaming sunlight of a summer Sunday morning, seeming to have an aura of a halo surrounding him. Yet he was actually an empty hollow figure, inside of which all was completely dark.

Standing there, shrouded in the external glow of the morning light, Charlie Odel retreated within himself, his thoughts drifting hundreds of miles away.

Chapter 4

The alarm buzzed throughout the room until slapped to silence by a whistling hand.

Jesus Christ, exclaimed Harley Odel as he rolled from his side on to his back. "Can it be time to get up already?’

It was a bright summer morning in Atlanta, Georgia, although Harley tried not to see the bits of light attempting to creep into the room. A barricade of blinds and draperies shielded the room from the outside world, especially the brightness of its Sunday morning.

The misery of the morning was the price Harley paid for the night before, when he once again had tripped the light fantastic in search of all the good times one man could pursue.

Harley, having been successful in his quest, as always, once again had to pay the price the following morning. He raised his hand to his head, rubbed his temples and then his eyes, and thought about the day to come.

His attention turned to the woman lying beside him in his bed, and he quickly jumped ahead to the day awaiting him. It was all mapped out in his mind, and he knew how it would play out, as it had so many days before. They’d take a drive somewhere, spending the time together enjoying whatever it was she enjoyed. A nice dinner would follow, and then the payoff.

In return for indulging her every whim and fancy during the day, she would indulge his every whim and fancy during the night, until the next day cycled around and the pattern could start all over again.

Harley took note of the irony: every night ended with his satisfaction before blending into the next day that started with a complete lack of it.

His life had been like this for years, and it was now becoming more than a sum of its parts. He had never wanted more than this, yet it always led to feeling that his life could never amount to less than it already was.

Harley arose from the bed, careful not to wake his sleeping beauty, not out of consideration, but out of desire to avoid the annoyance of having to converse should she awake. Regardless of what she may have been led to believe, she was not here for her ability to make good conversation.

Arising from bed, he planted his feet on the floor, and looked at his reflection in the mirror. No one was looking back. He stood in the darkness, with the drapes still drawn. The contrast of the appearance with the reality was stunning.

To others, he appeared the envy of every man: Single, financially secure, popular with women and always having a wildly good time. Yet now, without a beautiful woman draped on his arm and a smile forced on his face, Harley saw himself, perhaps for the first time, as he really was, an empty hollow figure, inside of which all was completely dark.

Standing there, shrouded in the darkness of the morning, Harley Odel retreated within himself, his thoughts drifting hundreds of miles away.

Chapter 5

No two brothers