Alicia's Triumph

By Ian MacDonald

Alicia was a mufti-millionaire now that her game that helped kids with ADD and ADHD had been an internationally acclaimed success. Some other women were rather less fortunate, and Debbie Miller was one such woman. .Alicia had met her when she was volunteering at a Women's Shelter. How she came to be there was no fault of hers, but her husband had taken one wrong turn in life and she and her daughter Chelsea were now paying the price. Alicia was determined to help Debbie get her life back on track, build up her self-confidence, restore her self-esteem and eradicate her shame. Debbie did not deserve to be in this position and Alicia was going to rescue her - or die trying. Realizing that many other women could be in similar circumstances she decided to make a new version of her game. It would be one that would teach kids tolerance, manners, acceptance of others, anger management, etiquette and how to be neighborly. The world today was not what it used to be and perhaps if the kids were taught early enough they may be able to practice these values when they grew up into adults. If so there would be fewer women in Debbie's situation down the road. A daunting challenge perhaps, but worth trying. Meanwhile she had to help Debbie and perhaps restore her trust in men - as unknown to both of them, one was about to enter her life. The question was - could she repair Debbie in time?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ian MacDonald
• Release date: Mar 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311545824

Ian MacDonald

The author was born and educated in England and served in the British armed forces and briefly as an officer in the British Prison Service. He subsequently became a financial adviser and retired as an executive in a financial planning firm. He took up writing as a hobby upon retirement and he now lives in Ontario with his wife. His writing has a military or law enforcement theme to it as his interests lie in that field.

Book preview

Alicia’s Triumph

By

Ian Macdonald

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Copyright 2015 Smashwords Edition

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Smashwords Edition License Notes

Thank you for downloading this e-Book. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

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Cover Designer:

Rita Toews

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Photo Credit

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/64820216@N04/10184833304>jok31603_hyuoko via http://photopin.com>photopin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/>(license)

All characters in this book are fictional. Should there be any similarity to persons living or deceased they are purely coincidental and unintentional.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One - Farmyard Help

Chapter Two - Charles Graham

Chapter Three - Rachel’s Shelter

Chapter Four - Shelter Assistance

Chapter Five - Animal Antics

Chapter Six – Victims Refuge

Chapter Seven – Debbie Miller

Chapter Eight – The Holiday

Chapter Nine – The Game

Chapter Ten – The Town Picnic

Chapter Eleven – Hong Kong

Chapter Twelve – Mr. Owl

Chapter Thirteen – Dave Curtis

Chapter Fourteen – Teaching Program

Chapter Fifteen – Lynda’s Ring

Chapter Sixteen – The Apartment

Chapter Seventeen – Lynda Gets Engaged

Chapter Eighteen – Debbie’s Dress

Chapter Nineteen – Etiquette &Behaviour

Chapter Twenty – Christmas Preparations

Chapter Twenty One – Christmas Parties

Chapter Twenty Two – Debbie’s New Job

Chapter Twenty Three – Brenda & Alvin

Chapter Twenty Four – Lynda’s Wedding

Chapter Twenty Five – Finding Heather

Chapter Twenty Six- Mr. Owl’s Triumph

Alicia’s Triumph

Introduction

Alicia and John had been High School sweethearts’ way back when. She had become attracted to him in her Physics class initially, and for a variety of reasons. John was the smartest boy in the class, he was good looking, if not exactly a rock icon, and he was also a school track star. None of these things had gone to his head and in fact the opposite was the case. He would help anybody in the class who needed it and he never made them feel inferior because of it. There was no side to John; he was just an all-around nice guy. To Alicia however, his personal magnetism and charisma was irresistible. There was just something about him, an undefinable quality that drew her towards him like a moth to a flame. He was strong, handsome, well-built and square jawed and yet he never considered himself as God’s gift to women like some of the other jocks did. John was far more than a jock though – he was smart too. Alicia was smart herself and this was yet another endearing factor, one that they jointly shared.

Their romance had started slowly, but it picked up steam later on and then intensified even more on their Prom Night. This was now maintained right through their University days, although they both went to different schools. John’s family were farmers, and money was rather tight. Alicia’s parents, on the other hand, were professionals and fairly well off financially. John had decided to take up flying at this point with a view to becoming a crop dusting pilot in order to help out his dad on the farm. He signed up for flying lessons and his instructor told him he was a natural pilot. He encouraged him to consider a career in aviation instead of farming as he could see John really was enjoying it. John was rather hesitant at that point and continued his farming and husbandry studies. Later on John would in fact pursue an aviation career and that is where he is today.

Alicia was still into her geek studies at the time and well on the way to becoming a computer games wizard. Once their university days were over they threw themselves into work and their romance sort of cooled off. The basic feelings were still there of course, but they no longer had the same intensity as both were now consumed by work. When John took a flying position up North they saw even less of each other and they slowly drifted apart. They saw each other periodically, but work was consuming them more than romance at that point.

A few years later, both John and Alicia meet up with a young woman and her visually challenged son. They met on separate occasions and under very different circumstances; but those encounters would eventually change their lives forever. They had no idea at the time of their initial meeting just what the future would hold in store for them and the sheer joy that young boy would bring into their lives. Alicia’s encounter with Tommy led her to have a dream one night, a dream that at the time made absolutely no sense to her whatsoever. It had abstract concepts, Gamma Rays, Infra-Red Beams, Kaleidoscopes, and all of them were intertwined. She wanted to help Tommy with his visual and attention problems, hence the dream, but this made no sense to her, at least not at that time. As time passed all these things started to come into play and slowly led Alicia down a path that would result in her developing a miracle.

The game that Alicia developed was now giving amusement and enjoyment to millions, but it could be adapted to help thousands of other children with special needs. You cannot teach a child unless you have their attention - Alicia’s new game riveted their attention right from the start. Her basic idea was quite simple. Children of all ages loved animals, so, given that, why not base a game on animals – animals that would rivet their attention immediately. The animals were then given voices, but not their own voices and the things they would say and do were quite off the wall and funny. They were all in the forest and attending school just like normal kids, but they were being taught by other animals who were teachers. However, as this game was playing out on the screen a subliminal feature was also running simultaneously and educating the children at the same time. In essence they were being taught without them being aware of it. The game held their attention where a teacher could not. Mr. Owl was the teacher, complete with cap and gown and frayed tassel, but he had a unique teaching style. It was simply amazing how much those kids learned using this game. Tommy had been the test case and he jumped several grade levels in only one year.

As a result of all of this, the demand for Alicia’s game went off the charts and her company IEC benefited significantly, as of course did Alicia.

She and John had got married during the development phase of this game as their romance had been rekindled. It had always been smoldering under the surface and like any volcanic mass if it is prodded look out. Well, John had invited her out for a coffee one evening and that was that. Their relationship was now one of magma like intensity and they were once more back on track. John was now an airline pilot and flying all over the world as a first officer on an A 380 jetliner with Trans Global. The game was a huge success, but it could still be improved. One can never sit back on ones laurels in the electronics industry and so Alicia now set out to improve the game and invent an even better mousetrap so to speak.

Chapter One

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John Billinge was an airline pilot, a first officer with Trans Global in fact, who flew their A380 series aircraft all over the world. These were huge planes and carried in excess of five hundred people on an average flight. These long haul flights allowed John to rack up his flying hours rather quickly and as a result he had a fair amount of down time each month. Aviation regulations dictated just how many flying hours a pilot could log in a set period of time. This was to ensure they were all fresh and rested once they took to the air.

Today was one of those free from flying days. He was on his way to his father’s farm to help out his dad and his brother, Danny, with the chores. It was springtime now and there was always something to be done on the farm in terms of maintenance, fence repairs and general farmyard chores. As he was driving along the peaceful country roads of Simondsville his mind drifted back to his school days. They were the good old days when he and his best friend, Eric Everstead, used to play on the farm. They had a lot of fun back then he recalled. He remembered the romps in the hay loft, the forts that they built and then destroyed and the war games that they had played. Then of course there was the frog racing sessions down by the river – yeah, they were a real hoot. However, all of this was twenty odd years ago now, even though the vivid memories made it seem like it was yesterday. Today he was going there to work and not play, but he had no idea as to what his dad and brother might require him to do for them.

When he drove into the farmyard both his father and brother were there. They were not just waiting for him to show up, they were already working on one of the tractors and attaching one of its pieces of equipment for tilling the ground. As he drove up they stopped what they were doing and went over to greet him.

Hi John, I’m glad you could make it said his dad.

Yeah, well I have a few days of downtime and Alicia is snowed under at work, so here I am.

Well I took the liberty of writing out a short list of jobs that need doing, just to give you some idea.

Yes, I can imagine, probably keep an army busy for a month or so no doubt.

Nah! a week maybe, but not more – but you’ll have it all done by Monday morning I’m sure.

Yeah, right! John replied laughing’

They were not back breaking jobs, but they would be time consuming. It was Friday today and so he would be working on his own, but tomorrow, Tommy would come over to help him. He would be a huge help and make it possible to complete all of these chores before Monday when he would have to go back to school.

Tommy Cogan was the young boy who had been the inspiration behind Alicia’s Dream and the subsequent game that she developed that would help children with attention difficulties. It was a multi-faceted game using colours and talking animals that, while being fun to watch, educated them at the same time. Tommy had been her first test subject. John first met Tommy when he was flying back to Toronto from London. Tommy had wanted to see the cockpit of the A 380 and, to cut a long story short, he was shown it. A short while later John bumped into Tommy again. This time it was on his dad’s farm when his grandmother brought him to their farm stall. He had then taken Tommy to see the cows being milked and he let him milk one. A lifelong relationship was forged that day.

At this point in time John and Alicia’s romance was on hold. Oh, it was still smoldering under the surface as it had never really died out. Both had tried to move on from time to time, but they just couldn’t get each other out of their minds. The gravitational pull was ever present. They always compared their dates to each other and they fell short every time. There was nothing wrong with their dates as they would both tell you – but that special something just wasn’t there. They couldn’t tell you what that elusive ingredient was – but it simply wasn’t there. One day however, John saw Alicia drive into the mall and he followed her and pulled up beside her. He invited her for a coffee and that turned into dinner. During that dinner John laid it all out on the table as to how he felt about Alicia and that he just couldn’t get past it. He told her he had been walking in a park in Singapore amidst the fragrant scented flowers with just the moonlight and the stars and his thoughts had turned to her and their Prom Night. They had walked to their hotel room across a park that night too and that is what triggered it he said.

I just wished you could have been with me that night, Alicia, to experience the beauty of that park, the smell of those flowers and the twinkling stars above, it was just so magical. It made me realize just how much I missed having you in my life anymore. It just sort of swept over me unexpectedly and I had this profound sense of loss. I don’t know whether it was the stars, the moonlight or the flowers, but I missed you. I will never forget that night and just how you looked. You were so beautiful then, and you are even more so now – is it any wonder I can’t get you out of my mind?

Alicia just sat there soaking it all up.

Oh John, I feel the same way as you. A girl never forgets her first lover and I can’t get you out of my mind either. I have tried to move on and had a few encounters here and there – but none of them were you so I guess we are both in the same boat.

John could see by the look in her eyes that she meant every word she was saying. She pointed out that she had never got over him and he was constantly on her mind. The passion of their relationship flared up right then and there. The temperature in the restaurant went up five degrees that night on the strength of it. The intensity of their relationship now erupted with volcanic fervor and John and Alicia were back on track at last. It was something that their friends had been hoping for over the years. They had been given a second chance to get it right and not let work get in the way as it had before. They got married a short time later and went to the orient on their honeymoon. Needless to say it was a magical experience – that’s what honeymoons are supposed to be aren’t they?

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Tommy Cogan had several challenges to face; he was colour blind, had other visual difficulties and had attention problems too. However, despite all of this he was a cute kid, a very loving child and one you just fell in love with almost on sight. When Alicia first met him she did exactly that. It was love at first sight for Alicia and she was determined to try to help him. She was a computer games designer by profession and a very good one too by all accounts and had several patents in her name. It was her friend Nancy Everstead who first discovered that Tommy was colour blind as she was a nurse at the time and studying to become a physician’s assistant. She had stumbled on this in one of Tommy’s therapy sessions with other children. One of the volunteer assistants had brought in a box of toys that her kids no longer needed. One of those toys was a kaleidoscope. The kids just loved it and were in fact fighting over it in their eagerness. They just loved all the different colors and the shapes and kept shaking it to see more. Tommy simply picked it up, shook it and put it down totally disinterested. This puzzled Nancy and then she realized that he could just be colour blind - she was right. Tommy was then given an experimental drug, one of the side effects of which had proven to affect eyesight. It worked and Tommy could now see in Technicolor like everyone else.

One night Alicia had a dream about curing Tommy’s issues. It was a weird dream and it made absolutely no sense to her. There were Infra-red beams, Gamma Rays, a multitude of diodes and a Kaleidoscope all intertwined within it. Alicia could not figure it out at all. The kaleidoscope was in there as she had heard it talked about and that was how Nancy had figured out Tommy’s colour issues because of it. The rest made no sense. However, it led Alicia down a path that would eventually lead her to develop a unique game that would amuse millions. It was a game that when modified would also educate its viewers subliminally. It was done in a forest setting, both during the day and at night. It contained all kinds of animals, both daytime and nocturnal, and they were all in a classroom being taught by teachers who were also animals. Mr. Owl for example had the traditional mortar board and gown complete with a tattered tassel, plus his wire rimmed glasses. He looked every inch the wise old owl who was full of knowledge and wisdom. The other teachers gave you a similar impression and yet they all had a unique sort of style to them.

The antics these animals got up to and the things they said commanded the children’s attention. The animals all had voices, but not the voices one would expect from them. Their behaviour and the things they would say were off the wall – but at the same time funny and riveting and that was the point. At the same time, a subliminal track was also running and this too used animals in the forest – but his one was actually teaching traditional subjects, like History, Geography, or Math. The children were in fact being educated and learning from this track, but they were totally unaware of it. Alicia knew that you simply cannot educate a child if you don’t have their attention, so she got their attention first. The idea behind it was elementary, most kids loved animals. So, given that fact, she had to come up with something that would attract the children to her animals. Giving the animal’s non-traditional sounds and voices and making them say crazy and funny things ought to rivet their attention she thought, and she was right. Once the children put on the mask and switched on the game it was difficult for them to put it down as they were so enthralled. Laughter was a key component to all of this and anyone walking by the study group’s rooms would hear lots of it. There was no doubt whatsoever that the children were enjoying these sessions – and they were actually learning at the same time. It had been a challenge for Alicia to develop this game as it had so many facets to it. The animal’s voices and their sayings had to change frequently, so too did the scenery and the colour content and background.

The result of her endeavours had since proven to be very rewarding. The local school board had been the first to embrace her new game, but it was now an international success. Various universities had embraced the concept and Alicia had been a guest speaker at many gatherings and was herself a celebrity now along with her creation, Mr. Owl. However, time never stands still and I.E.C. (Interactive Electronic Creations) Alicia’s company could not sit back and stagnate. This game, and its ancillary educational discs, had been a huge international success – but that was now old news. What was I.E.C. going to do next – that was what everyone wanted to know? That was a problem that Alicia would now have to address, and fairly soon too if the public were to be satisfied.

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Alicia was now throwing herself into work with a vengeance, but at the same time she was very much aware of her responsibilities as a mother. John and Alicia’s baby daughter Allison had been born last year and she was very much the apple of their eye. She was a beautiful child with raven coloured hair just like her mother. John of course spoiled her rotten and Alicia had to keep an eye in him or else he would totally ruin the child. John had a lot of love to give and between Alicia and Allison they soaked it all up like a sponge and reveled in it. Tommy’s mother Jean was the marketing director of I.E.C. as well as being Alicia’s friend. She too was kept busy in her P.R. role which was another one of her duties. As V.P. of Public Relations, keeping the client base satisfied and solving all the problems that occurred periodically could be a daunting task. One Jean was very capable of dealing with and very effectively too apparently. Alicia considered herself more than just fortunate to have Jean on staff. When her previous firm had relocated to Calgary, Jean was more or less obliged to seek alternate employment. Nancy Everstead, Alicia’s best friend, had introduced her to Jean one day in the Billinge market stall. Alicia liked her immediately and when she knew she was looking for a job she told Nancy to tell Jean to apply at I.E.C. Kevin and Alan, Alicia’s two partners, hired her on the spot and they hadn’t looked back since.

Jean Davidson (Formerly Cogan) had been through a rough time as a single mom with a troubled child a few years back. Those days were behind her now. Tommy had progressed in leaps and bounds and was now almost back on track. In addition she had met and married a neuro-surgeon just out of his military service and who totally loved Tommy. Everyone who knew Jean was delighted for her, she deserved the happiness she was enjoying right now. She was now financially secure, her son was in great shape and her husband idolized her – it just doesn’t get any better than that. Jean knew it too and deeply appreciated that fact. She had lived a hellish life for a while after her husband had been killed – a little taste of heaven now was something she cherished deeply and certainly didn’t take for granted. Her Husband, Glen, was a neuro-surgeon who had served in the military in Afghanistan. He too had seen his share of trauma and hardship and they idolized each other - and of course, Tommy. They really were a very happy family today.

Chapter Two

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While Alicia and Jean had been all swept up in magical romance over the past few years their friend Lynda Maxwell had been going through hell. Jean had first met Lynda through her son, Tommy, when he befriended her son, Simon, at a Summer Camp. Simon wore a leg brace as he had a bone deficiency and that meant he couldn’t participate in all of the games. Tommy had his own issues to deal with, but the two of them hit it off right from the start. Neither one of them saw the other as being defective in any way – despite the fact that they were never chosen to participate. When schoolyard picks were involved Simon and Tommy were usually excluded. They were quite used to it, but it still hurt them. However, they bonded with each other and soon found ways to have fun together. Simon’s parents were going through a divorce at the time, a very bitter divorce. His father was a real piece of work apparently. Custody was never an issue, he didn’t want a defective child slowing him down or hampering his chances with a more vibrant girlfriend. He and Lynda had many heated discussions on the subject of Simon needing his dad – but her husband simply didn’t want to know. The house unfortunately wasn’t soundproof and despite Lynda trying to keep these conversations just between the two of them, her husband couldn’t care less about Simon hearing his opinions and reasons. He would rant and rave about being tied down, having a wife who no longer excited him and having a crippled kid. No way was he going to live the rest of his life like that and the sooner he set out on his own the better.

Being a single mom in today’s day and age can be tough - however having a man like that as a husband was far worse. He was certainly no role model for Simon and letting the child know outright that he wasn’t wanted was just plain cruel. The problem was that he was the major breadwinner and things would be tight after the divorce. Lynda was at her wits end and in no position to get a real shark of a lawyer to protect her interests. However, when Jean found out about her plight she casually mentioned it to Alicia over lunch one day. It was done innocently and was basically just table conversation as they were eating and chatting about this and that. When Alicia heard all the gory details she was simply horrified and immediately stepped in to help Lynda – anonymously, as it turned out - she did not want to be seen as meddling in her friends affairs. She hired her friend Mary Marsh, one of the sharpest legal minds in the city to act on her behalf. Mary really was a pit bull with lipstick in the courtroom and Lynda’s husband was lucky to walk out of the courtroom with the shirt still on his back.

There are no winners in divorce cases regardless of who comes away with most of the spoils - well! Excluding the lawyers that is –that goes without saying. If children are involved it can be devastating for them – regardless of who is to blame. The finer points of blame are academic to a child as they try to determine adult problems with a child’s mind. What does being lousy in bed mean to a child – to them one just goes to sleep in there right? Its things like that they simply cannot understand. How can you fall out of love with someone? Especially when that person has always been there and is the only parent they have known. They live in a house with Mommy and Daddy and that is it – it is all they have ever known. Throwing a grenade into that certainly has a detrimental effect – often for life. Their whole world has just been shattered. In ideal situations – if they actually exist, the parents do try to reassure their kids that they will be fine and that both Mommy and Daddy still love them. They may not be living together anymore – but they still love them. In Lynda Maxwell’s case that simply wasn’t true, she adored Simon, but her husband didn’t and the boy knew it. He even asked his mother on one occasion if Daddy left because he couldn’t play baseball with him. You can just imagine what that did to Lynda.

However, every cloud has a silver lining so they say and Lynda was now about to join the ranks of the blissful. Well that might be a stretch – but you get the drift. She had been introduced to a man at a friend’s party and they hit it off together. He was a quiet and gentle man and yet he possessed considerable inner strength. Tony Braxton, of Braxton Electronics had brought him in from Calgary to give him a new perspective on life. His wife and son had been killed by a drunk driver as they were driving home from hockey practice. His name was Charles Graham and he was the CFO over at Braxton now. He had settled in nicely, but although he had been on his own for a while the pain of his loss could be plainly seen on occasion. Lynda could see immediately just where he was coming from as she was basically in the same boat. It was not love at first sight by any means, but the attraction was there and over time it grew stronger. She had invited him over for dinner and he and Simon hit it off immediately. Having lost his own son he readily accepted Simon and they went down to the basement and played games together as Lynda prepared the meal. After Charles had gone home Lynda casually asked Simon for his opinion of him. She was more than delighted by his response and she felt a warm glow come over