Message from the Grave

By Lesley Kennedy

Hanna is a teenage girl, passionate and driven to achieve her dreams while continually harassed by bullies. The only thing in life helping her to stay focused and to cope is her beloved cat, Merlin. That is until one night during a super-moon, tragedy strikes and Hanna’s life is altered forever. Hanna soon discovers she now has a guardian angel looking out for her, stopping at nothing to ensure she is never hurt again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452570419

Lesley Kennedy

Lesley Kennedy is a working mother of two grown children. Her combined love of books and journey raising children in a society filled with bullies inspired her to write her first novel. In her spare time, she enjoys playing roller derby and living life to the fullest.

Book preview

Message

FROM THE

Grave

LESLEY KENNEDY

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Copyright © 2013 Lesley Kennedy.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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ISBN: 978-1-4525-7041-9 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/06/2013

Contents

Hanna

School

Work

Science Fair

Halloween

Gym Class

Midnight

Birthday Party

Lunch

Chin Held High

County Fair

Sunday

Merlin

Dream

Karma

Work

Aftermath

Sink Hole

Aftermath

Return to the Shelter

Sam

Button

Sam And Button

School Investigation

Merlin

Family Time

Study Buddies

Science Test

Test Results

Hanna’s Universe

Bad Drivers

Karma

Coma

Liz

This book is dedicated to my beloved cat Merlin and Lillian Newton; she is the strongest person I have ever known. Her very wise statement

This too shall pass

Has always provided me with the strength needed to push forward.

They are my true guardian angels smiling down upon me from heaven.

Hanna

H ANNA MARIE IS an average 17 year old girl; she lives in a small bungalow on a quiet street with her parents Henry and Paula. Hanna attends a small private school close to her home called Waldorf; she is brilliant, loved by all her teachers and has always achieved straight A’s in every subject.

Hanna does not spend time hanging out at the mall or bothering with boys, to fulfill her life dreams she spends her time volunteering at the local humane society, her best friend Liz is the veterinarian at the shelter. Hanna hopes to work alongside Liz someday saving animals, as her life dream is to be a veterinarian.

Her love and passion for animals secured Hanna her part time job at a local Pet Store.

Hanna’s parents worried about leaving her at home for long periods of time when they worked so 11 years ago on her 6th birthday they gave her a black kitten to love and call her own.

He was the fuzziest black kitten that Hanna had ever seen, at the end of his long sleek body he had a huge bushy tail that twitched like a squirrel. Hanna looked into his eyes and when he looked back his emerald green eyes shone a brilliant shade that was almost hypnotic; those eyes pierced right through and touched your soul.

Hanna was captivated and fell in love with him instantly, she had to come up with a name and after spending most of the day with him she decided the perfect name for him was Merlin after the wizard as his whole essence felt magical. Anyone looking in on this little family would get the impression that they had the perfect life and Hanna was the luckiest girl alive, what on earth she could possibly complain about.

At Hanna’s private school over ninety percent of her classmates were the victims of divorce, traveling from one home to another living out of suit cases and not really having a permanent place they could call home. Most of their parents were on a second or third marriage that came with the dreaded step parents as well as step brothers and step sisters that had a unique set of problems as well. This new generation of kids buried their anger deep down and once they were away from that toxic environment the anger that was held down boiled up and surfaced, you can see it as they lashed out at the first easy target in the form of bullying. This generation of kids needed relief in order to survive and they did this by inflicting mental and physical abuse towards weaker victims. They mastered this art so well, it is very hard to catch or prove what is being done. So like most victims Hanna kept quiet and tried to avoid them as much as possible. Hanna was very good at hiding and avoiding most times but somehow they did find ways to tormented her, Hanna was an easy target as she was so focused in class and they could get away with it every time as she always kept quiet.

Hanna appeared to be such a strong person that no matter what they did or said to her she always bounced back so who was this harming, at least that is what they saw and it appeared so on the outside looking into Hanna’s life.

Hanna’s parents Henry and Paula met at work at the hospital; it was love at first sight. Her dad is a very successful doctor, loved by all patients and everyone on staff and her mom is the perky beautiful nurse, they make such a perfect pair that everyone knows and envies. They try to co-ordinate their shifts at the hospital in the ER to be able to have some family time together. Hanna finds their crazy schedules leave her a significant time spent alone at home; she is ok with this as it gives her time to focus on school and with her job and volunteer work she finds activities to do to fill the void. When Merlin came into her life it did help with the loneliness she felt and gave her a quiet companion to keep her company on the long nights when her parents were on the graveyard shift.

The bond with Merlin quickly developed and he quickly became her trusted loyal friend and soul mate.

Hanna was so focused on school and her goals that she was forgetful at times, as well not the most coordinated person that tripped over invisible objects. Some of the kids at school played on the fact she was known as to be a klutz, she constantly had things go wrong. It seemed that if something could go wrong it did, and it was like living with a black cloud over you every second of every day without any escape.

Hanna was always covered in bruises and scrapes that she could not account for and seemed to magically appear. She was picked last for every sport or activity in gym class and could not seem to make or keep any friends at school. If she did manage to get a friend they always took advantage of her kind and gentle manner, somehow she always got hurt in the end so she just gave up trying. Hanna had Merlin and she would spend hours talking to him, she confided in him sharing all her secrets and dreams knowing all along he would never betray her and was there forever and would always love her no matter what.

School

H ANNA ALWAYS ARRIVED at school early and was especially excited today, in Biology they were going to dissect frogs and Hanna had been looking forward to this for weeks. Her first period class went so slow and she had a hard time focusing as she watched the clock in anticipation for second period. The bell finally rang; Hanna leaped out of her chair and quickly headed for the Biology room. Hanna’s favorite subject was science, after the class was all settled the teacher handed out foam plates, pins and then the frogs. Hanna was happily humming as she settled to the task of pinning the tiny creature to the foam plate; Hanna’s calls had been collecting these for months and could not stop wondering what type of meat originally was on that plate when it was in the supermarket. Hanna sat back and admired her handy work, the tiny frog lay so peacefully and perfectly sprawled out with pins holding his little arms and legs in place.

Hanna picked up the scalpel and started to make the first incision, she was taking her time and savoring every moment concentrating deeply to make sure the incision was perfect.

The teacher had instructed the class to do a standard Y incision; Hanna had just started the third pass to complete the Y when through her scalpel snapped and the tip twanged across the room.

Oh shoot Hanna said

Her fellow classmates stopped and turned around to see what on earth could go wrong with little Miss perfect. Hanna looked up and when she saw others looking at her she chose to ignore them as usual and simply got up to go to the front to get another blade from the teacher.

At the next table there was a group of boys that seemed to always find and get into trouble. They had spent their time just fooling around and joking with the frog.

Oh look at miss perfect she is not so perfect is she busting up a perfectly good blade said Chris

The group of boys started to laugh and join in on the fresh target of their amusement.

Hey want to see her frog dance? Chris said as he reached into his jean jacket’s pocket and pulled out a bottle rocket.

Hey man where did you get that? Spencer asked

I found a bunch in my garage yesterday and have been itching to use them. Chris replied

They started laughing

Quick before she gets back Spencer said

Chris made sure no one else was watching and then quickly went over to Hanna’s station, stuffed the bottle rocket in the frog’s body with the fuse hanging out and lit it.

The wick quickly disappeared in the frogs belly so that it could not be seen from the outside as Chris hurried back to his work center to join Spencer and wait for the excitement.

Hanna was walking back to her work center with the new blade when she saw the boys giggling, she shook her head and wondered to herself if they would ever grow up. Hanna just got herself positioned back at her station, scalpel in hand, and ready to make the last and final incision before she was able to explore the inside organs. She was savoring the moment and concentrating so hard, no one was going to spoil this moment. She just touched the skin and was starting to apply pressure and instead of the scalpel gliding through on the last perfect stroke there was a ear-piercing bang followed by the frog exploding into a million pieces. Hanna jumped as her heart thumped in her chest, she watched the frog explode and jump off the table right in front of her eyes, time seemed to slow as it splattered frog juices, guts and tiny little body parts all over her from head to toe.

Hanna was in total shock and could not move just standing there; she was vibrating and staring at the now empty foam board in absolute disbelief.

The boys roared with laughter, falling all over themselves as everyone watched on. Hanna finally snapped out of her shock and looked around; the entire class was now pointing and laughing at her. Hanna could not hear for the ringing in her ears, she looked down and realized that the little frog that was so perfect before now lay in pieces all over her covering her from head to toe. She turned and ran out of the lab before the teacher could reach her; she was both humiliated and crushed, her perfect day she had been so looking for was now ruined. Her hearing cleared and she could hear the entire class roaring with laughter as she ran. Hanna was now crying so hard she could barely see or care where she was going; she just wanted to get away from all the ridicule and laughter, crawl into a box and make it disappear.

Hanna found herself outside the girl’s bathroom and flung herself into the room she hit the door so hard it crashed hard into the wall with a loud bang. She went directly to the sink and turned the water hot, she just stood there splashing water on her face and body with the scalding water trying to scrub the frog remains and memory’s away as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Hanna was not sure how long she spent at the sink, she finally settled down a bit and found the courage to look in the mirror to see the damage the explosion had done. Her face was red and raw from the scrubbing and she still had frog blood and bits of flesh all in her hair and it covered her clothes. They were dangling and dripping almost mocking her, Hanna also noticed a smell she was not aware of before it was a blend of formaldehyde, gun powder all