The Miracle at Silver Lake

By Donald Locke

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph. 6:12, (KJV).
War has been declared and a young boy's soul hangs in the balance...
Robbie, a young Christian, embarks on an adventure of self-discovery during his first trip to Silver Lake Campground where he and his twin brother go for summer camp. Can he overcome his many insecurities and self-doubts to find the faith to follow the calling when God fills his heart with compassion for an angry young boy that no one else seems able to reach?
Steven, a non-believer, searches for meaning as he deals with the tragic loss of his Christian parents. He allows his shattered heart to fill with bitterness and rage towards the one who he believes is ultimately responsible for their deaths, God! With death closer than he realizes, will he forfeit his soul out of anger or can God find a way to reach him before it’s too late?
Only a miracle can save him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Donald Locke
• Release date: Feb 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370155767

Donald Locke

The author, forty-eight year old Donald R. Locke, has spent more than half of his life incarcerated in jails, prisons, and mental institutions. Raised in an abusive, dysfunctional family he struggled to find faith in anything.Educating himself in prison, he found solace in writing, often using experiences from his own life as a basis for his stories, except his stories always had a happy ending.On September 2, 1996, depressed, feeling hopeless and alone, with thoughts of suicide constantly on his mind his struggle with faith ended. He knelt beside his bunk in a cold dark cell and prayed for forgiveness and mercy. There he found God, as if God had been there waiting for him. He became a new man in Christ and devoted his life to serving God with his talent for writing.Although he would continue to stumble, make mistakes, and backslide over the next twenty years, God was always there to forgive him.Inspired by God, he wrote The Miracle At Silver Lake, in a humble attempt to share God’s message with children and young adults who may be searching for a purpose in their own lives. To show that no matter how insignificant a person may feel inside, God can use them in a mighty way and miracles will happen.

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THE MIRACLE AT SILVER LAKE

By: Donald Locke

Self-published at Smashwords with help from

Midnight Express Books

THE MIRACLE AT SILVER LAKE Smashwords edition

Copyright © 2016 by Donald Locke

Cover art by Gary H.

Smashwords License Statement

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters are totally from the imagination of the author and depict no persons, living or dead; any similarity is totally coincidental.

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CHAPTER 1

Steven woke violently from the terrifying nightmare, silently screaming and drowning in the torrent of sweaty sheets and suffocating blankets. The horrible screams of twisting steel, the acrid stench of burning fuel and melting rubber, combined with the tortured wails of his dying parents playing vividly inside his head. He threw the blankets off the bed and lay there in his damp pajamas trying to push the hellish dream out of his head. Hot tears stung his red burning eyes as he cried for his dead parents.

As the nightmare receded, his breathing began to calm and his rapidly beating heart began to slow down. He focused on the dimly lit room around him. This was not his room even though he’d been sleeping there since his parent’s death. He would probably spend most of his childhood sleeping in this room, but he would never consider it to be his.

The early morning light seeping through the translucent curtains gave the room an eerie glow, but seeing the familiar things, like his jeans draped over the chair at the desk, his model airplane still waiting for him to build it, and the photo of his grandparents standing vigilantly on the dresser watching over him, gave him something to think about and focus on instead of the nightmare slowly ebbing from his mind.

Through the bedroom door, down the hall in the kitchen, he could hear his grandfather moving around. Steven listened to the clatter of pans being moved around and selected as Grandpa began cooking breakfast. He could smell the faint aroma of his grandfather’s coffee as it began to brew in the pot. Steven knew that his grandfather would be calling for him soon, telling him it was time to wake up and get ready for his big day. It was a day that Steven had been dreading now for weeks and he didn’t want to get up. He continued to lay there in the warm bed listening. The smells and familiar noises were comforting to him and he was desperate for any comfort he could find.

Soon he was able to smell the warm buttery biscuits baking in the oven. The delicious aroma reminded him of the mornings when he would wake up to the sounds and smells of his mother baking biscuits for him. Everything seemed to remind him of his parents. The two people he loved most in the world, but they were not in the world anymore, they were dead.

It seemed unbelievable that it had been three months since the accident. In his nightmares, he always witnessed the fatal crash, but as always, he was powerless to stop it and save his parents. In reality, Steven had been in school practicing his writing when the terrible accident occurred. He wasn’t told about the accident and his parent’s death until his grandfather picked him up from the bus stop, and through his bitter tears of anguish had explained what happened.

Steven heard the strong deep voice of his grandfather as he called down the hallway announcing that breakfast would be on the table in ten minutes and that they needed to get an early start. Steven continued to lay in bed even after his grandfather had called him for the third time. Steven didn’t want to get up, and he certainly didn’t want to go to summer camp at all. He was wide awake, but just wanted to lay there and relive the memories of his parents when they were alive.

He tried to pretend that it was his mother cooking breakfast for him, and that his father was there sitting at the table reading the newspaper. He remembered how his dad would always take the comics out and laid it next to Steven’s plate, folded neatly for Steven to read after he had eaten his breakfast. It was a special thing between him and his father, and something that Steven desperately missed. All he wanted was for everything to go back to the way it was before the accident. He wanted his mom and dad back and to be happy again, but he knew that nothing would ever be the same again. Just thinking of his mom and dad brought new tears to his already swollen eyes. He turned over and buried his face in his pillow so that his grandfather wouldn’t hear him crying again. He hated crying, it made him free vulnerable and weak. It humiliated him, especially when his grandfather came trying to console him. Steven loved his grandfather dearly, but he just didn’t seem to understand that he just wanted to be left alone.

Steven’s grandfather, a retired Baptist preacher, had taken Steven in after the accident. Steven’s mother had been his only child and with Steven’s grandmother passing away when he was only an infant they were all each other had. Steven’s father didn’t have any family so the only other option would have been a foster home for Steven and he knew that would not be good for Steven, especially with dealing with such a huge loss in his young life.

Steven didn’t mind living with his grandfather, but it seemed, that all he wanted to do is to pray and read his Bible to him. Steven had attended church with his parents when they were still alive. They had all prayed and read the Bible together and Steven had loved it. Steven had been a member of the youth group and enjoyed going to services with his parents, but now Steven hated everything that had to do with God, the Bible, and church. The only reason that Steven still went to church was because his grandfather thought he was too young to stay at home alone. He went and sat quietly, but did not participate at all. He never sang the songs, he never prayed, he just sat there on the pew next to his grandfather waiting for the service to end. Steven blamed God for not saving his parents, for not preventing the accident from ever happening. He was bitterly angry with God and had told God through his burning tears just how much he hated Him as he watched his parents being lowered into their graves.

Now his grandfather wanted him to go to a Christian summer camp with a bunch of other Christians and counselors that just wanted to sing, pray, and read their Bibles. They would talk about how wonderful God was and how much He loved everyone. Steven knew that God didn’t love him and he didn’t want anything to do with God, Jesus, or the Bible. Sending him to a camp full of happy Christians wasn’t going to change that.

There was a soft knock and then the door opened just enough for his grandfather to stick his head inside to check on him.

Son, it’s getting late, we need to get moving if we are going to leave on time, he said.

Steven just stared at him as if to say he already knew. His grandfather closed the door to give him a chance to get up and get ready.

Steven reluctantly climbed out of bed and looked at himself in the mirror. His jet-black hair was matted flat and still damp from sweat. There were creases on his cheeks from where he had slept against the sheets. His face was pale. He looked sad and his brown eyes were red and swollen from crying. He slipped out of his pajamas and quickly dressed in his usual tee shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

Are you up in there? his grandfather asked from down the hall.

I’m almost ready, Steven called back as he tied his shoe.

Good morning son, did you sleep alright? he asked when Steven came into the kitchen and took his seat at the table.

Yes sir, he lied.

I thought I was going to have to eat all these biscuits by myself, he said smiling.

They smell good grandpa, he said breathing in the sweet aroma.

Are you packed and all ready to go? his grandfather asked placing one of the warm biscuits on his plate.

No sir, he answered truthfully. His grandfather gave a sigh.

Son, I know that you don’t want to go to camp, but it might be fun and give you a chance to get things off your mind for a bit, he explained.

Steven knew what he meant. Nothing is fun anymore, Steven said sadly. He took a bite of his biscuit.

I know that it has been hard for you since the accident, but your mom and dad would want you to move on and enjoy the life you have, he continued.

I won’t ever be happy again, Steven said as the tears began to well up in his eyes.

God can help you through your pain if you will just trust Him enough to open your heart to His love, he said taking Steven’s hand.

God is the one that let them die! Why didn’t He save them? Why? he cried.

I don’t know why it happened son, but I know that God loves each one of us. The Bible says that we can bring all of our burdens to Him when we are heavy laden. Do you know what that means? he asked.

I don’t care what the Bible says, it’s all God’s fault, He let them die! Steven snapped angrily.

He pulled his hand away from his grandfather’s and took a bite of his biscuit, but now he wasn’t very hungry.

Nothing else was said. Steven ate the rest of his biscuit as quickly as he could then asked to be excused. After leaving the table, he went to his