The Morrow Family Saga, Series 1: 1950s, Book 5: Star Baby

By Jaysen True Blood

Natalia is going through the changes of becoming a teen. She is thirteen and naive where love is concerned. She has not emerged from her fantasy world and it has her parents deeply concerned...especially when she decided to pursue Tobias French, a boy known for his criminal activity.

On the other side of the pond, Vietnam is heating up. The French have begun their retreat from French Indochina and the US is now casting its collective gaze toward that little piece of hell. Behind enemy lines, Demmie and Nick Morrow race against time to map out the enemy's intricate tunnel network before their bosses send forth troops to replace the retreating French. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jaysen True Blood
• Release date: Feb 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393823933

Jaysen True Blood

Jaysen True Blood was born and raised in the Midwest where he currently resides. His first taste of writing came early in grade school with a class assignment. a few years later, his love for writing would return as he found himself with another class assignment, this time a poetry unit. through junior high, he would write a series of novels, many poems, and begin his long interest in writing song lyrics as well. In high school, he would learn the value of tall tales, myths and other kinds of stories as he continued to build his store of stories. upon graduation, he went for a semester at a university, where he would write two stories, one of which would become a serial online for about six months. Returning home, he worked at just about anything he could find, but never strayed far from his love of the story. After his first marriage, he signed on with Keep It Coming, an e-zine, where he wrote two serials, "Tales From The Renge" and "Breed's Command" (the same characters appear with Fancy Marsh in several subsequent westerns. The serial was taken from a manuscript written for a class assignment while in high school). H also wrote writing and music related articles for the print version of KIC that came out for just three issues. When KIC went under, Jay was once again forced to work at different jobs just to make ends meet. between 2007 and 2010, Jay would release "Seven By Jay: Seven Short Stories", "The Price Of Lust: Book One Of Faces In The Crowd" and "So Here's To Twilight And Other Poems".

Book preview

1.

Natalia Morrow, at thirteen, was now turning heads. She looked much older than her actual age, causing the older boys to desire her. Though a mere ninth grader, she had Juniors and Seniors asking her out. But she was not interested in them at all. She only had one boy in her mind.

Her family had been feuding with the French family since 1950 and she saw herself as Juliet to Tobias French’s Romeo. In her mind, she was a player in a massive production of Romeo And Juliet, her favorite Shakespeare play. She believed herself and Tobias to be star crossed lovers who could heal the breach between their families.

He was so handsome and fabulously wealthy. Or so she thought. She really had no idea whether his family was still wealthy or not. Still, in her mind, it was so. She was willing to hold onto the illusion for as long as possible.

She didn’t care about what the other girls were saying. She didn’t care that he had a reputation as someone who would assault a girl and take only what he wanted. To her, this was just their way of keeping her away from being with the boy she loved. These ‘rumors’ were meant to keep her separated from her. But she loved him.

She would do whatever it took to show them that they had judged him wrong. She would show them. She would make him a man. Or so she thought.

Still young, she didn’t know the difference between puppy love, obsessive crushes, and love. She only knew that she felt something and fantasized about how it would be. Her paradise was only in her head and her heart was fooled into believing it as real. But then, she had never had a strong sense of reality.

She wanted it all. Hollywood. Broadway. Wealth beyond imagining. And Toby.

She was sure that she could have been a better ‘Dorothy’ in Wizard of Oz than Judy Garland. She could play a better lead than Vivien Leigh had she been asked to be in A Streetcar Named Desire. Or even Dana Andrews. She was better than all of them.

She was more beautiful than any of those women in Hollywood. And more talented. She could steal everyone’s hearts! She could even win the Oscar doing it!

She would show them someday. She would show everybody. She would go to Hollywood someday and give a performance unlike any other.

Natalia sighed. Why didn’t anyone see? How could they not? After all, she was putting on the greatest act of her life at the moment! Could they not see?

She hated being stuck in Des Moines. There was a world to explore and she couldn’t leave Iowa. she couldn’t wait to grow up.  Why did it take so long? After all, she was sure that she could survive on her own. But her father wouldn’t let her.

Four years had passed since the beginning of her daddy’s feud with French Industries. To her, the feud had gone on way too long. Why did adults fight over things? What good did it do?

Michael? her mother’s voice calling for her father brought her out of her thoughts.

Yes, Val? Her father’s response came from his den.

Michael, Valeria Morrow continued excitedly as she came in from the mail box, We got a letter from Nick!

The mention of Natalia’s older brother brought her father out of his study immediately. Nick had gone away to boot camp when Nattie was three. He’d gone to Korea in 1950, around the time the feud had begun, and had only written home sporadically. Nattie doubted she would even recognize him if he came home. Though Korea was over, he had never come home. Instead, he was somewhere in England. Or was he back stateside?

NICOLAI MORROW STOOD waiting for the transport back to the States. He’d bounced from base to base after Korea, only to land in the Philippines and then Vietnam . Now, he was headed home for some much needed rest.

Still, he was being called home. He had a little time before he had to report to Fort Bragg. He wanted to stop off in Des Moines and see his parents before going anywhere. He hadn’t seen them since he left for boot camp. He smiled.

He wondered what his little sisters looked like. How much had they changed? How old were they now...thirteen? Fourteen?

He wondered how much had changed. The Red Scare had just become a thing. How serious had it gotten? Was McCarran or McCarthy still in Congress? If so, America was doomed.

He had no use for people who were fanatical over obliterating differing ideals. They were useless. What had Private Gilmore said? ‘As worthless as tits on a boar?’ He loved the phrasing the Iowa pig farmer-turned-soldier had used in Korea to describe those who’d been in positions of leadership, especially the generals who weren’t on the battlefield yet thought they knew how to win.

The war had cost Gilmore his life and had accomplished nothing. Hell. America hadn’t even won. Nobody had won. It had been a draw.

So much death. So much waste. And a lasting resentment of America in North Korea. He had seen so many young men go to their deaths. So many.

Though he hadn’t yet had any involvement in Vietnam, he knew the time was coming when the army would be sent. Vietnam was heavy on everyone’s mind. The Geneva Convention had seen to a temporary division of the country. At the same time, it had kept America out of the main portion of the fighting.

He had been lucky, being at Fort Bragg in 195 training as a Green Beret. It had kept him from going immediately to Vietnam as an advisor. Instead, he had been sent to Berlin. Then Manila. But Vietnam had been his last orders.

Now, he was going home for a short rest. Then, he had to report to Washington as the head of the ‘advisors’ stationed over there. Advisors. They weren’t advisors.

They were there fighting for their lives. No advising. No sitting back and observing.

They were unofficial representation. Unofficial units sent to fight a losing battle. A losing war.

God, how dumb could DC be? Never mind. Congress heeded the voice of McCarthy. McCarthy the maniacal ‘Commie’ hunter.

He snorted. Commies. Perhaps McCarthy and the rest should be the ones over there fighting. Ho Chi Mihn was no push over. Neither was Mao.

The fake communists that worried McCarthy and his backers in Congress were nothing short of a fantasy compared to Mao and Mihn. hell. They were fantasia compared to Krushchev.

But Krushchev was not quite the monster that Stalin had been. And that was a good thing. Kind of.

Not that the USSR’s leadership had ever been anything but monsters. They were authoritarians. Totalitarians. They shared power with