Evangeline

By Erica Laurie

Evangeline's mother has died, and her father avoids being home. Feeling lost and broken, Evangeline makes a heartfelt wish to be loved. When she wakes up she discovers she's in what appears to be Joseon era Korea.  A loving family takes her in and Evangeline quickly accepts her new circumstances. Besides, it doesn't hurt that Beom is handsome and reminds her of her favorite actor, even if he is a little rough around the edges.

Beom's life takes a sudden change when a girl mysteriously materializes before his eyes. Unsure of what to do, he takes her home. When he discovers she is not from his world, he makes a promise to help her get home. Yet the longer he is with her, the more he wants her to stay. When the time comes, will he be able to let her go?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erica Laurie
• Release date: May 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386479475

Erica Laurie

I love reading, Korean dramas, and dragons. In fact, my love of fantasy (dragons) and Korean dramas influences my writing. In my spare time, I like to visit the fairies, forest elves, and dragons with my kids. I've been dragon searching since I was a kid with my dad, and so far the dragon has yet to be awake to let us in to their enchanted caves.

Book preview

Dedication

To Family.

You are my everything.

THIS STORY IS FICTIONAL and is not intended to be historically accurate.

CHAPTER 1

THEY SAY A BOOK IS a portal to a magical world. Hidden between the covers, a loner can find acceptance, or the popular girl some quiet solitude. For each there is a special book, a story that is ours. For Evangeline, her story began in a quaint little bookshop, where the book found her.

The day began as so many others had after the death of her mother. Evangeline dragged herself from bed and through her day, functioning in a semi-conscious state.

As usual, for the past six months she arrived home to a silent house. The quiet was both a painful reminder and a gentle peace. Painful because her mother was no longer there and peaceful because her mother was no longer suffering. The cancer had taken her quickly in the end. Evangeline was grateful about that.

She hurried past her mother’s bedroom on her way up to her own room. That room hadn’t always been her mother’s. They’d moved her into it when she became too weak to climb the stairs. It was the room where her mother had drawn her last breath.

Finally in the comfort of her room, she closed the door and locked it. While she didn’t expect her dad to return home soon, she didn’t want to be interrupted. She needed the solitude to unwind from school and deal with the emptiness of what had once been a happy home.

AFTER COMPLETING HER homework, Evangeline went to the kitchen to see about dinner, her soft slippers shuffling across the laminated floor. Stomach growling, she examined what few groceries there were. A jar of spaghetti sauce, and half a box of spaghetti. The ring of the phone startled Evangeline. A quick check of the caller ID told her it was her father.

Hey, Dad, she said.

I forgot to tell you I have a business dinner tonight, so don’t wait up for me. Why don’t you order pizza? I left money in the cupboard.

Alright, Evangeline said as she walked to the cupboard. Sure enough, taped on the inside door was an envelope with two $50 bills in it. Wow. That will buy a lot of pizza. Am I supposed to throw a party?

Yeah, about that. It’s actually a business weekend, so I won’t be home until Monday.

Oh, well, have a good weekend. The hurt was creeping into her voice and Evangeline went to hang up.

Evie, don’t be like that. You know I love you, right?

Yeah, I know, Dad.

I just have to—

I know, Dad. It’s okay, really. Just be safe and make sure you come home. Before he could say anything else she hung up the phone. Seriously, they could get rid of the landline. Then she wouldn’t have to answer the phone, ever. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket. No one except her mom had ever called, or even texted her on it. She hadn’t wanted anyone else besides her parents to have the number. And now, no one called or texted her. Still, she carried it with her. Sometimes she’d even call her mom’s old cell just to hear her voice. Her thumbs quickly tapped out a message.

Dad is gone this weekend again. He’s always finding a reason not to be home, Mom. I think he misses you.

Hitting send as she passed what had been her mother’s room, she heard the comforting beep.

I hope you get my message, Mom. I miss you, she whispered, clutching the phone to her heart, grateful her mom’s phone stayed on the charger. Once up the stairs, she grabbed her keys, and put her wallet into her front right side pocket. She didn’t feel like ordering pizza. Or cooking spaghetti. Spicy food sounded good. Chinese or Korean? Oh, let’s get Korean food; it’s been awhile. Dad hates Korean food; Mom loved it. I’ll have dinner with Mom tonight.

She took out her phone and texted her Mom’s phone again.

Hi Mom, it’s me. I’m going to go eat at Oma’s Kitchen where we liked to go to together. Think of me there. Love, E-angel.

EVANGELINE SAT DOWN in a corner booth. Mrs. Kim, one of the owners, noticed Evangeline and made her way through the dining room with her order. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen you. How have you been? Mrs. Kim said as she set the plates of food down on the table. Her kind brown eyes were full of sympathy.

I’ve been... making it, Evangeline said. She didn’t want to tell truth. After the first couple of days, nobody wanted to hear the truth. That she wasn’t okay. That nothing would be okay again.

Mrs. Kim rubbed her arm affectionately. If you need anything, give us a holler.

Thank you.

Picking at her food, Evangeline looked up at the little celadon ceramic Asian dragon on the window display. She fingered its little snout. Maybe she could talk to the dragon.

"Why is the last class of the day the hardest? I don’t have as much trouble concentrating in my other classes. Is it because I know no one is waiting at home for me? I wish someone... anyone would be waiting for me."

The celadon dragon didn’t answer.

AFTER DINNER, EVANGELINE couldn’t face going home to an empty house. Walking the streets of the little town, with the old-style store fronts and closely-built buildings, she stopped at the secondhand bookshop. The shelves were lined with books, a variety of colors and sizes. Making her way to the fantasy section, she sat on the floor to browse the bottom shelf. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a twinkling light and glimpsed a green-tipped reptilian tail. What was that? She stood up; dusting off her jeans she followed the tail to the back, to a room at the very back corner of the shop.

Squeezing through the narrow doorway surrounded by bookshelves, Evangeline found herself in a small reading room. Sitting on a table near a comfortable chair was a book that seemed to glow. Curious that the book pages glowed, Evangeline took a seat, picked it up, and flipped through a couple of pages. It had to be a trick of the light. It was an antique book, with beautiful artwork. It appeared to be hand-inked. Touching the lettering, she was sure of it. Why would the bookkeeper keep such a valuable book out like this? Maybe she should bring it to his attention. She flipped back to the first page.

Extraordinary Magic

Begins when this book is opened,

But who is to say it ends at the finish?

Only the dragon knows...

For this book becomes real the moment she’s chosen.

A green dragon was painted into the margin, reminding her of the little celadon one from the Korean restaurant. Evangeline’s fingers skimmed over the dragon painting and everything went black.

CHAPTER 2

VOICES TALKED IN THE dark distance. Evangeline struggled to open her eyelids, but they remained heavy.

A familiar voice. Wake up, E-angel. It’s time to rise and shine.

Evangeline burrowed deeper into the pillow and blankets, covering her head. With a moan she complained, It’s too early.

It’s after ten in the morning, sleepyhead. It’s our mother-daughter date today. I thought we could start by going out to brunch.

Mom. I’ll be ready in a jiffy, Evangeline said. She hurriedly got ready, grabbed her purse, and ran down the stairs. I’m ready! Where are you, Mom?

The house was quiet.

Too quiet.

Mom? Where are you? Mom? Mom!

Evangeline awoke, heart hammering heavily in her chest. Mom! She burst into tears. It was an all-too-familiar dream. Loss tore at her heart.

As her sobbing quieted she became aware of two things. A woman was rubbing her back and making a gentle hushing sound, like one would make to comfort a small child, as they sat on the hardwood floor. The second was that she wasn’t at home, or even the bookshop. She was in a small, sparsely-furnished room. A lone shelf stood against the wall, a few books on it.

She pulled away and looked at the woman next to her. The dark-haired woman was dressed in a hanbok, and her hair was in a bun with a hairstick stuck through the center. Her grief must be causing something weird—a dream within a dream.

I’ll probably wake up back in the bookshop. I can’t believe I passed out in the store. Twinkling lights and dragon tails, like those are real.

A tall, dark-haired young man entered the small hut, carrying a few small packages of some sort. He spoke rapidly. Evangeline guessed they were probably medicinal herbs by their size and shape. As he handed the medicines to the older woman, Evangeline studied him. His hair was long and nearly black, and pulled back from his face. He was dressed in coarsely made fabric of blue and burgundy. It looked very much like the martial arts uniform that she had worn back when she had taken a few self-defense classes, with a sash around his waist. Only homespun, like the woman’s hanbok.

Evangeline bit her lip. She couldn’t understand a word they were saying. Despite the rapid speaking, though, one word stood out. One of the few words she knew. Eomeoni meant ‘mother’ in Korean.

The boy turned to her and spoke. When Evangeline shook her head in confusion he turned to his mother for help.

Is this even real? Am I in Korea? Evangeline looked about the little sparsely furnished room. Everything seemed to fit into a different world, right out of a saeguk. That can’t be right. Did someone put you up to this to try to cheer me up? Did my mom— Evangeline’s voice broke, Did my mother arrange to have some actors—you—pretend to be in a drama for me? And you didn’t get the memo that she died?

The two actors talked together in low voices. Evangeline was impressed. They were staying in character. Her mother had known she often dreamed of being in one of the Korean dramas she regularly watched streaming on TV, but since she couldn’t speak the language, it wasn’t likely. Never mind her mixed heritage. How had her mom found Korean-speaking actors, though? And a really hot one at that. Evangeline studied the boy’s profile. He had a nice slope to his nose, a cute elfish curl to his left ear. He reminded her of one of her favorites. Of course, he wasn’t him, but he sure looked and sounded just right.

You can stop the act; my mom died. It was nice of her to try to set something up for me.

Eomeoni, or the actress playing the mother, held up a hand for Evangeline to stay put.

Evangeline watched as she opened one of the little packets and let some of the powder fall into a tea cup, followed by hot water. Carefully holding the cup, she motioned to Evangeline to drink it.

Evangeline made a decision. What the heck, I’ll pretend. It beats my real life anyway.

The hot guy looked at her with concern and asked her a question.

Evangeline