21 Drops

By Lorne Spencer Hrabia

“Finally an end times suspense series written from a Canadian perspective - 21 Drops is the start of an end times series, set on the prairies that promises to keep you wondering what will happen next.”
Chris Loewen Owner/Manager of Verses Christian Bookstore in Lloydminster, AB
Brighton Furlong is a fast-rising star in the world of architectural design, but he has a problem that keeps him up at night--every night. He has a re-occurring dream with no explainable meaning, along with many other dreams and visions. As the visions intensify and the demands of his job begin burning Brighton out, he is drawn to take on a design and supervision project far from the big city lights.
In the small town of Mardillon, Brighton meets Lexi, a woman capable of interpreting his nightly dream. Together the two of them delve into the depths of the dream world and discover an amazing pattern and direction that could lead them and the world to eternity.
From small town coffee shop encounters to a coordinated worldwide terrorist attack, Brighton Furlong and his small band of followers embark on the journey of a lifetime in their quest to find the answer to his visions and more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Word Alive Press
• Release date: Apr 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781486604487

Lorne Spencer Hrabia

Lorne Spencer Hrabia lives on the Canadian Prairies in Saskatchewan with his wife of forty years. He has three published books to his credit and The White Room of Darkness is his next novel. Before this he had been writing short stories and poetry for well over thirty years. He is also a graduate of Western Pentecostal Bible College with a diploma in Pastoral Theology.

Book preview

Excerpt

Acknowledgements

First let me thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who placed in me the desire to write and create.

I would also like to thank Mr. George Watson for his encouragement and guidance in my desire to write books. He has given me many tools that have helped me along the way, along with times of verbal information and support.

1. Breathable Black Paint

Brighton was suddenly very confused by his surroundings, if you could even call them that. He sensed darkness all around, so much so that if he could raise his body or even his arms, he knew he wouldn’t see them. Brighton felt as if he were lying in a coffin that was filled with breathable black paint. The strange part, though, was that he was totally unable to move any part of his body, not even his eyelids, which led him to believe it was a dream. He was unsure how long he was there, how he arrived in this situation or how long it would be before he woke up, and the last thought scared him to death.

He wasn’t particularly popular growing up and, therefore, was more of a loner. He never picked a fight and was often the subject of bullying by a number of other boys, but one in particular. There always had to be one who stood out, it seemed, and others who would join with that person. They were in every school and in every neighbourhood. He often wondered what had happened to them in life, now that they were all grown men. Brighton knew that the number one bully in his life was dead, having died of cancer at an early age. The others? Well, he knew that most of them hadn’t amounted to much in life, and some were even in jail, which made him wonder just what they thought about their own lives these days.

Growing up, Brighton felt very alone in the world, and because he wasn’t all that popular, the girls avoided him. His parents were business people who were wrapped up in their own worlds and, unfortunately, family time didn’t fit in. He never felt he could go to either one of them for help or advice. His father had a temper and Brighton had learned to avoid him at certain times when the warning signs were there. His brothers, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble with the other kids in school and in their neighbourhood. They even got along well with their parents, and Brighton resented the fact that his father had more of a relationship with his other brothers than with him.

Suddenly he bolted upright in his bed, sweat drenched his body and the sheets. Brighton once again had trouble figuring out just where he was, but soon enough the bedroom’s familiar surroundings began to take hold of him, and he realized he was in his bed. The dream was over. He just sat there, getting used to the darkness at 4:00 am, until his eyes adjusted to the minimal light from the streetlight outside. His thoughts turned to the dream, what brought it on and, more importantly, what did it mean? It’s not that he didn’t have dreams, but they were never like the one he had just experienced. Not all of his dreams were great ones, but he had the ability to remember them for weeks, even months later, and some he even remembered for years. At one point in his life, his mother had told him that he should jot them down and maybe one day he could write a book about them, since he had the ability to remember the smallest of details.

Based on all these facts, while growing up, he had tried buying friendship with things he stole from his parent’s grocery business, but he found such friendships superficial and shallow at the least, and it only added to his growing loneliness. He had a few dates during his teens, but not really fulfilling ones. He remembered a girl he had a crush on. She was about six years older than him, was drop-dead gorgeous, always smiled at him and said ‘hi’ any time she was around, but she always had a group of guys following her.

There was one time though, on a drive home from somewhere that the two of them were in the back seat together. Brighton remembered that he was so shy he couldn’t even look her in the eyes, although he thought she was very beautiful, dressed in her blue jean mini skirt and sheer white blouse. Just before they were about to drop her off at home, she placed her hand on his leg and squeezed. He turned abruptly to look at her, and as she inched her hand up his leg, she licked her lips and then blew him a kiss before she left the car. Later in his life Brighton did go out on a date with her a time or two, but she didn’t like commitment. She was just into men and lots of them. She ended up a worn-out looking woman in a non-marital relationship, who succumbed to cancer and died before her time. Anytime he thought back to those days and her passing, he would become sad and miss her, because on one of those dates, she had introduced him to manhood.

After all of that, he remained single for about thirty years. He never really dated, but went out for coffee with a few women from the architectural company in which he worked as an architectural draftsman. Over the years he had plenty of women come on to him. Most of them were married, but he just had no interest. Most of them never measured up to what he wanted in a woman.

Brighton was the star of the company, getting all the high-class jobs that included shopping malls, skyscrapers, government buildings, and so on, but the constant workload and demands of his boss were getting to him. They were slowly wearing him down until even the job was not enough for him. Eventually, a job opening came across his desk that involved designing the plans for a combination fire hall and town hall for the town of Mardillon, which was located about eight hours west of the company’s headquarters where he worked. This job was not of Brighton’s calibre, but he wanted to get out of the city for a while. The job required designing and drawing the plans, along with overseeing the construction of the building to completion, which would take about eight to ten months.

2. Project Location

When Brighton requested the new job, his boss, Kevin, immediately struck it down, but Brighton told Kevin that it was either his way or he would hit the highway, knowing that there would be a lot of other companies willing to hire him.

Kevin eventually relented and gave the project to Brighton, with strict orders that he keep in contact with the office at least once a week. With that, Brighton began making trips to the building location to get a sense of the building site, grade levels and soil samples. He inquired about local building codes, plot measurements and input from the town officials about what they wanted for the building. He would also oversee the entire project once he had the plans drawn up and stamped by his company. This meant that he had to move to the nearby city of Wright, about fifteen minutes away from the project location, for about eight months.

Once he had moved and got settled in, he decided to open a bank account at the local Mardillon Bank, just across the street from the building project he was overseeing. The first time he saw the woman with the long dark hair and stunning figure at the desk across the counter, Brighton felt a flutter inside that he hadn’t felt since his former lover placed her hand on his knee in the backseat of that car so many years ago. She wasn’t a ravishing beauty like the first woman he fell for, but there was something captivating about her and the smile that broke out the first time their eyes met. From there he found out, over time during his visits to the bank, that her name was Lexi. She was the branch manager and she, too, was single. Often when he was working on the building site across from the bank, he would see her standing at a window watching him. When she saw him looking back, Lexi would wave to him and smile.

* * *

About two months after they had initially met, she showed up at the building site one Saturday morning. He was usually there on weekends, when the workers were not. This way he could check the progress of the work and its quality too. He was startled when he heard knocking on the main level doors and looked out the second story window. A smile crossed his lips when he saw that it was Lexi. He rushed down and upon opening the door, he saw her blush as she mentioned she had to come to her office for some papers and noticed he was at the building site. She wondered if he might show her around.

Is it okay? she asked. I’m not sure if you can actually have the public in here. Can you?

He was sure there was more to it than that, but who was he to argue with a woman who was obviously interested in him. Well, seeing as I am in charge here, and the fact that I am the only one here today, I don’t think it will be a problem.

Great! she said, beaming.

Bu-ut, he held onto the word, You will have to wear a hardhat, he said, handing her one that he had grabbed before answering the door.

Lexi was amazed at Brighton’s building knowledge and his creative ideas for this area and that, but knowing about his line of work, she figured he had just picked a lot of it up during his working career. After looking over the entire site, they sat down in the construction office to chat.

Umm, she started off, You are probably wondering why I am here on a Saturday, aren’t you?

He was about to say something, but she kept right on talking.

I’m sure you know it is not about work, at least not my work. But I wanted to ask you something personal—if that is okay with you?

He didn’t hesitate, Sure, what’s up?

She smiled that smile he loved to see. Well, we have gotten to know each other off and on these past few weeks.

He just nodded ‘yes.’

And being from such a small town, the opportunities to meet someone are few and far between.

He nodded again, glad at the direction the conversation was heading.

So being perfectly honest with you, I must admit you have this happy effect on me. I find myself thinking about you a lot at work and at home. I am just wondering if you would at all be interested in going for supper with me. We could see if we have anything in common.

Brighton’s first thought was that he liked her being direct and to the point, instead of being evasive as so many women seemed to do these days. She was looking directly at him now, waiting for a response of any kind.

But he was simply admiring the woman for what she had just asked and said, Uhhh!