The Heart of Leo: The Darling Undesirables, #0

By Blythe Ayne

Fall in Love with a Star....

Heart, a girl of fifteen, lives in a world of madness and grace, where test-tube babies are propagated to discover the secrets of Eternal Life.

Left as a foundling on the doorstep of a Darling Undesirables facility, alive and healthy – without a heart! – she has always loved stars. Her first love is Caffau's star, 13 billion years old, in the Heart of Leo, one of the oldest and most mysterious stars in the Universe.

Her destiny is set into motion when a Being of Light comes to her from Caffau's star. With a voice of wind chimes, he takes her on a journey through the Universe and teaches her that the Power of the Universe is shaped by the Power of Love. The Heart of Leo is the novella prequel to The Darling Undesirables and includes chapter one of The Darling Undesirables.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emerson and Tilman
• Release date: Aug 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781947151222

Blythe Ayne

Dr. Blythe Ayne lives on ten acres of forest in Washington state, writing and caring for the flora and fauna. A psychotherapist in private practice for over 20 years, she now lectures and teaches on the subjects of self-fulfillment, meditation techniques, and healthy body, mind and soul. She also teaches creative writing and has been published in excess of a thousand fiction and nonfiction, online and print, venues under her name, pen names, and ghost writings. She has received numerous writing awards and grants, including the PEN Syndicated Fiction project, SFPA award, CCLM grants, National Endowment for the Arts grants, and others.

Book preview

The Heart of Leo

by

Blythe Ayne

Books & Audiobooks by Blythe Ayne

Fiction:

The Darling Undesirables Series:

The Heart of Leo -  short story prequel

The Darling Undesirables

Moons Rising

The Inventor’s Clone

Heart’s Quest

Novellas & Short Story Collections:

5 Minute Stories

13 Lovely Frights for Lonely Nights

When Fields Hum And Glow

Children’s Illustrated Books:

The Rat Who Didn't Like Rats

The Rat Who Didn’t Like Christmas

Nonfiction:

Excellent Life Series:

Love Is The Answer

45 Ways To Excellent Life

Horn of Plenty–The Cornucopia of Your Life

Finding Your Path, Engaging Your Purpose

How to Save Your Life Series:

Save Your Life with the Dynamic Duo  D3 and K2

Save Your Life With The Power Of pH Balance

Save Your Life With The Phenomenal Lemon

Save Your Life with Stupendous Spices

Save Your Life with the Elixir of Water

Absolute Beginner Series:

Bed Yoga – Easy, Healing, Yoga Moves You Can Do in Bed

Bed Yoga for Couples—Easy, Healing, Yoga Moves You Can Do in Bed

Write Your Book! Publish Your Book! Market Your Book!

Poetry, Photography & Art:

Life Flows on the River of Love

Home & the Surrounding Territory

Audiobooks:

Save Your Life With The Phenomenal Lemon

Save Your Life with Stupendous Spices

The Darling Undesirables

The Heart of Leo

Blythe Ayne’s paperback, large print, hardback books, & ebooks are found wherever books are sold. www.BlytheAyne.com

The Heart of Leo

Blythe Ayne

Emerson & Tilman, Publishers

129 Pendleton Way #55

Washougal, WA 98671

All Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed,

or transmitted in any form, or by any means, including

photocopying, recording, or other electronic or

mechanical methods, without the prior

written permission of the author, except

brief quotations in critical reviews and

other noncommercial uses permitted

by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictional.

Book, cover design & first graphic by Blythe Ayne

Other interior graphics thanks to NASA

The Heart of Leo

Copyright © Blythe Ayne

Prequel to The Darling Undesirables series

www.TheDarlingUndesirables.BlytheAyne.com

www.BlytheAyne.com

ebook ISBN: 978-1-947151-22-2

[1. FICTION/Science Fiction/Genetic Engineering

2. FICTION/Science Fiction/Steampunk

3. FICTION/Fantasy/Urban]  I. Title.

BIC: FM

First Edition

Dedication

For Anyone Who Ever

Wished Upon a Star

The Visitor

Heart lay on her narrow bed under the geodesic Star Dome, excitement tripping her every synapse. Tonight! Tonight the Leonid meteor shower would be the most brilliant in thirty-five years—last seen long before her fifteen years!—when Comet Tempel-Tuttle would make a dramatic and rare outburst, sparkling across the sky.

The three-dimensional, super-telescope geodesic dome inset in the ceiling of her room at the Darling Undesirables Facility was a gift she’d received years before when she told a news reporter her favorite thing was stars. Star gifts poured in from everywhere, addressed simply To: Heart—the most adored of the