Doors

By E. L. Howard

Hidden fears haunt us all. Doors of opportunity open and shut in our lives, but what if we close the wrong one?

Jill had tantalizingly seen a better life in the role model of her parents. But she still couldn't check herself from falling into a pit of depression and heading towards ultimate destruction.

She kept trying to change her course but found her life was in runaway mode. But what if she could have a second chance? What if the closed door could be reopened?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jul 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645366461

E. L. Howard

E. L. Howard is a teacher and seeker. Her books have been written to bring joy and redemption into the readers' lives. She believes that a book's purpose is to provide a blueprint for change. Doors is inspired by a true story.

Book preview

Thirty-Five

About the Author

E. L. Howard is a teacher and seeker. Her books have been written to bring joy and redemption into the readers’ lives. She believes that a book’s purpose is to provide a blueprint for change. Doors is inspired by a true story.

About the Book

Hidden fears haunt us all. Doors of opportunity open and shut in our lives, but what if we close the wrong one?

Jill had tantalizingly seen a better life in the role model of her parents. But she still couldn’t check herself from falling into a pit of depression and heading towards ultimate destruction.

She kept trying to change her course but found her life was in runaway mode. But what if she could have a second chance? What if the closed door could be reopened?

Copyright Information

Copyright © E. L. Howard (2019)

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 publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales: special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Howard, E. L.

Doors

ISBN 9781641829380 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781641829397 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781645366461 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019905896

The main category of the book — Fiction / Family Life

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published (2019)

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 28th Floor

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

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Introduction

Newspaper Article

A Small Fifth Page Late Addition

A body was found today washed up by the tide. It was that of a woman aged in her early to late thirties, dark haired, about five feet five with a thin frame.

She had been in the water for 2–3 days but was only slightly decomposed. She was wearing a black skirt and jacket. No identification was found on her and missing person reports are being checked.

It is not yet known if she drowned or if any foul play was involved.

I put down the paper and wondered if the person who found her ever thought about her life and how she came to end up being another number on a slab in a morgue. Did she have a family or anyone who cared or even noticed whether she was dead or alive?

Whilst musing on these questions, I paused and realized this could have been me. One bad choice on a bad day and this could be where your life ends up. The total identification with this poor soul sent shivers down my spine.

I had become world-weary early on in life. I had tried to move to a different environment but my mistakes from the past always caught up with me. No matter how many new places I traveled to, people I met, and jobs I had, they all in the end blurred into the same stale life and I never seemed to be able to learn from my past mistakes. I could easily have become trapped into that downward spiral other poor souls had taken on their path of destruction. I had much to learn to be able to alter this fate. For me it was a long way back.

After such downward movement in my life, my light switch moment came when I realized our choices dictate our lives. The knowledge that we’re not alone in making those choices changed everything. There is a hair breath between a well-lived life and a tragic death.

Guide me to use the power wisely to live life well and to be thankful, I prayed.

Chapter One

My story begins with that of my family, the Rogers. There are four of us of which I am the younger daughter and my name is Jill. My parents, Jack and June Rogers, had been born in a small rural town. It was as you’d expect of a country area, friendly and centered on family life. There were about fifty houses that made up a population of about three thousand, give or take a few. Farms surrounded the village and on a Friday there was a large market and all the farmers from miles around came to town.

Fridays were very busy in town which contrasted sharply to the rest of the week. Everyone came out on Market Day and socialized with their neighbors. Often families lived a long way out of the town and so rarely got a chance to see anyone else. They all worked long hours and Friday was their rare day of relaxation. Even on weekends they were usually busy with the animals or crops.

So except towards the end of the week there were only a few cars driving through the village along with people shopping, and life was fairly peaceful and quiet.

My parents had always lived in this area as had their family for generations. They fitted in perfectly here and had known each other all their lives. In fact, they had grown up down the road from each other and my father always told the same story. As soon as I noticed your mother, I knew she was the one for me. She had something magnetic about her that drew people to want to know her even from when she was a child. She was attractive, of course, with her long wavy blond hair and blue eyes but it was more than that. Every time she looked at someone it was as though she had them mesmerized, a bit like a snake charmer, he’d add in his characteristic good humor.

I remember even the teachers at school loved her. She could charm anyone into doing what she wanted. But she wasn’t affected by this, always remaining so innocent which made her even more charming. I, of course, in those days didn’t even know the meaning of the word ‘charm’ but even from an early age I could always feel an attraction. Did you feel the same way, June? He’d always ask her that same question every time the story was told and she’d snuggle closer to him. I felt there must have been a strong mutual co-dependence of my parents from a young age. In fact, it was still there even when they had had children and were heading into old age. It was a rare trait to find in anyone.

‘This must be true love,’ I used to think from a very young age after I had heard the story every year when it was someone’s birthday. We’d all groan and say ‘not again’ but really you wanted to hear about that much happiness time and time again.

Of course, boys and later men were always attracted to her and asked her on dates. My father had his work cut out to win such a popular girl. But he was never daunted by anything. He was brave and courageous from when he was a small child and used to tell us the story of when she was forced into noticing him.

They were both only 12 and living in such a small town always walked to and from school on their own. If their mothers were around, they sometimes turned up at the school gate and walked home with them, but the children wanted to assert their independence and do things alone.

He always told the story.

"I was sauntering along with some school friends. I was with Tom and James and we were chatting away while we walked beside the road. It had been raining heavily and the road verges had quickly filled with water. We tried not to walk near these as we didn’t want to end up soaked. It had stopped raining by then and we weren’t really paying too much attention to anything else, just enjoying the carefree moment. I looked around and saw June walking slowly behind us on her own. She was trying not to get her feet wet by avoiding all the puddles.

"I suddenly saw a car revving up behind her and going much too fast. The driver was going to soak her at best, or even hit her. He probably hadn’t noticed any kids on the side of the road. I yelled out, ‘Jump’ and started racing towards her. I pushed her out of the way and we both ended up in the mud but otherwise unharmed. We looked at each other and just burst into laughter at how we looked. She had mud all over her face and my uniform was covered in brown slime. We both knew we’d be in trouble at home but were relieved just to be wet and uninjured.

"After that, we said ‘hullo’ each day and she knew my name. I had always known hers but she started saying, ‘Hi Jack.’ It felt good and was worth all the screams from my mother about the state of my uniform and the extra work for her.

"I remember my mother’s angry stare when I got home.

"‘Jack, you know how much work I have to do for your father and you kids just to keep things ticking along. Your father will be home soon and you’ll get a walloping, my son.’ I did get that as soon as Dad arrived home but it was worth every strap mark. I was still the happiest boy in the village that day.

"Things just progressed from there and as the years went by, we grew fonder and fonder of each other.

"By the age of eighteen we had both finished school and I had been apprenticed as a fitter on the railways. Your mother still lived at home with her parents but we spent every spare moment together. I knew I would have a good profession with which to support a family in a few years’ time and we always knew we were going to marry eventually. It was understood between us and our families.

At twenty, I had finished my apprenticeship and was a fully qualified fitter and she was working in one of the local grocery shops. We agreed it was time and so we bought a ring and announced our engagement. We married that year, had you and your sister not long after and we’re still together today. Been married, you know, for nearly fifty years and still very happy together.

They were my role models and they certainly gave their children a lot to live up to. In fact,