2020 Vision

By C.D. Sutherland, Judy Burford, Wanda Bush and 4 more

The seven short stories contained in 2020 Vision are as diverse in technique and theme as our previous years’ writings; nevertheless, they are united in the fact that a mention of the eyes is a common element. We invite you to take notice of the techniques used by this array of talented authors to weave those eyes-related appearances into their stories.
Enjoy these seven adventures as they take you places you probably have never been. C.D. Sutherland examines how a couple of young boys, Sam Strong and his best friend Nigel Caruthers deal with bullies and personal crisis in I Can See Clearly Now. Share Savannah’s struggles with finances and grief in the aftermath of inheriting her grandmother’s estate in Judy Burford’s The Trunk. Experience how an emotionally damaged man, Stephen, deals with the loss of his father and the discover of family secrets in Wanda Bush’s What To Do, What To Do. Explore the symbolism and value of memories in Beverly Flanders’ Charmed Life adventure of a lost and found heirloom. Deal with the suspense of Glenys Perkins’ concealed past being uncovered in Donna M. Copeland’s Secrets. Come along and experience Katherine and Tammy Stewart’s time-traveling, romantic adventure as revealed in Carole Lehr Johnson’s A Shift in Time. Finally, see how the lives of family and friends overlap through the years with Susan Hiers Foster’s debut short story, And No More Goodbyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Narrow Way Press
• Release date: Feb 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781937366285

C.D. Sutherland

Charles David Sutherland signs his books as C.D. Sutherland. Across three decades, he flew B-52s for the Air Force, where he was known among his fellow warfighters as The Chuck. Then he turned novelist with his "The Chronicles of Susah" series novels, which shook up the fiction world as they defied conventional classification. They blended action and emotional tension with technology and spiritual intrigue in a coming-of-age story wrapped in an epic adventure set in the antediluvian age marking the birth of a new literary genre. His readers called it Antediluvian Steampunk and declared C.D. Sutherland to be its father. If you like Biblically-based action adventures for all ages, then look at his books—you’ll be glad you did.Born in the Virginia foothills to a coalminer’s son, who long ago joined the Navy to escape a life in the dark Appalachian mines, C.D. Sutherland also joined the military. After high school, he served in the Air Force for thirty-two years, seeing much of the world, flying jets, and doing other things most men have only dreamed about doing.C.D. Sutherland married the love of his life, and they are well into their 45th year. The two of them are raising a couple of their grandsons. While C.D. Sutherland is a Baptist deacon, author, and ACFW Louisiana chapter President and project manager, he is also the owner and executive editor of Narrow Way Press, LLC, a small independent publishing company. His philosophy for life is to "do the best you can with what you have to work with.”His power verse is:“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:16 KJV) *(*note: You can too!)

Book preview

2020 Vision

A Collection of Diverse Short Stories

2020 Vision: A Collection of Diverse Short Stories is a collective work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The following works were used by permission and agreement:

I Can See Clearly Now Copyright © 2020 by C.D. SUTHERLAND

The Trunk Copyright © 2020 by JUDY BURFORD

What To Do, What To Do Copyright © 2020 by WANDA BUSH

A Charmed Life Copyright © 2020 by BEVERLY FLANDERS

Secrets Copyright © 2020 by DONNA M. COPELAND

A Shift in Time Copyright © 2020 by CAROLE LEHR JOHNSON

And No More Goodbyes Copyright © 2020 by SUSAN HIERS FOSTER

Cover photography © 2020 by RAY POHL

Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Concerning the anthology itself:

2020 Vision: A Collection of Diverse Short Stories Copyright © 2020 C.D. Sutherland

Published by Narrow Way Press LLC

www.narrowwaypress.com

Cover design by C.D. SUTHERLAND

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-937366-26-1

eBook ISBN: (Kindle) 978-1-937366-27-8

eBook ISBN: (EPUB) 978-1-937366-28-5

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the contributing authors.

Dedication

To Cindy Marie Sutherland

for her tireless editing of

our collective muses.

Table of Contents

About the Short Story

I Can See Clearly Now by C.D. SUTHERLAND

The Trunk by JUDY BURFORD

What To Do, What To Do by WANDA BUSH

A Charmed Life by BEVERLY FLANDERS

Secrets by DONNA M. COPELAND

A Shift in Time by CAROLE LEHR JOHNSON

And No More Goodbyes by SUSAN HIERS FOSTER

About the Authors

Judy Burford

Wanda Bush

Donna M. Copeland

Beverly Flanders

Susan Hiers Foster

Carole Lehr Johnson

C.D. Sutherland

About the Short Story

Cindy Marie

By C.D. Sutherland

It was more than forty years ago,

In Korea by the Yellow Sea,

That a maiden traveled whom you may know

By the name of CINDY MARIE;—

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to be forever with me.

I was an Airman, and she a Soldier,

In Korea by the Yellow Sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than just love—

I and my CINDY MARIE—

We flew separately back and rejoined in the states

Together, her and me.

She turned in her rifle, I strapped on my jet,

And many good homes had we,

Where dusty winds blew, and cotton grew

Me and my CINDY MARIE;

So that our lovely daughters came

And grandchildren from some did flee,

To live with us, as a family

Together with her and me.

But flying, ended with a final landing,

So turned to writing, did me

Yes!—that was my destiny—as readers know,

Wolves, dragons, and a bloody sea;

T’was editors polished my skill to write,

But my perfection was CINDY MARIE.

And our love is stronger by far than the love

Of when we were younger you see,

Though there’s many books by me;

But whether a novel or short story prose,

She reads and remarks, my editor she;

Our stories are stories straight from our soul

Mine and my soulmate’s, CINDY MARIE:—

For my muse never flows without bringing me dreams

Of my Seoul mate, CINDY MARIE;

And my dragons never fly but I feel the love ties

Of my soulmate CINDY MARIE;

And so, every night, I lie down by the side

Of my darling, my prize, my editor, my bride

Our adventure is wherever are we—

Since we left Korea by that distant Sea.

This publication stands as a testimony of the third year a group of authors have assembled their collective muse to create an anthology celebrating the short story. The last two years’ anthologies, Celebrating the Short Story and Over the Moon Travel Treasures, were great successes in advancing the craft of Christian fiction writing in Louisiana. This year, six veteran anthology authors have been joined by one new author to produce the wonderful collection of diverse short stories you’re now viewing, 2020 Vision.

The short story has long endured since the creation of language. It is a useful vehicle for presenting an account, more often concentrating on the creation of a mood rather than a plot. A short story can range from a cleverly crafted sentence all the way up to 20,000 words. Whatever the length, a short story is typically centered around one plot, one main character, and one central theme. This stands in contrast to a novel, which is capable of weaving multiple plots and themes among an array of central characters. The writing styles used in short stories can be somewhat unusual or surprising to its readers, sometimes their writers use literary techniques which might wear down a reader if employed through the length of a novel. Being short, by definition, they provide the perfect fodder for being assembled into collections, usually with some unifying theme or common element to tie them together.

The seven short stories contained in 2020 Vision are as diverse in technique and theme as our previous years’ writings; nevertheless, they are united in the fact that a mention of the eyes is a common element. We invite you to take notice of the techniques used by this array of talented authors to weave those eyes-related appearances into their stories. If you are able to attend the ACFW Louisiana’s 5th Annual Aspiring Writers Workshop at Bossier Community College on 13 June 2020, you might have some questions about those techniques answered for you.

Enjoy these seven adventures as they take you places you probably have never been. C.D. Sutherland examines how a couple of young boys, Sam Strong and his best friend Nigel Caruthers deal with bullies and personal crisis in I Can See Clearly Now. Share Savannah’s struggles with finances and grief in the aftermath of inheriting her grandmother’s estate in Judy Burford’s The Trunk. Experience how an emotionally damaged man, Stephen, deals with the loss of his father and the discovery of family secrets in Wanda Bush’s What To Do, What To Do. Explore the symbolism and value of memories in Beverly Flanders’ Charmed Life adventure of a lost and found heirloom. Deal with the suspense of Glenys Perkins’ concealed past being uncovered in Donna M. Copeland’s Secrets. Come along and experience Katherine and Tammy Stewart’s time-traveling, romantic adventure as revealed in Carole Lehr Johnson’s A Shift in Time. Finally, see how the lives of family and friends overlap through the years with Susan Hiers Foster’s debut short story, And No More Goodbyes.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW

By: C.D. Sutherland

Sam, you’ve got to help me. I need an eye chart. The desperation in Nigel Caruthers’ voice caused me to pause. While he had a reputation for pulling pranks on me, the urgency glowing from his eyes reminded me of a dying man. He was my best friend long before we started the eighth grade. Of course, I would help him. Then he added, My life depends on it.

Follow me. Hoping it wasn’t a set up for a joke, I made my way toward the medical reference section in the library. It’ll be over here, but how does your life depend on finding one?

Trust me. Nigel looked over his shoulder the way a robber goes into a bank in the old movies, worried the sheriff might notice him.

Whatever. I shrugged and pulled a reference book from the shelf. I quickly turned to a description of the Snellen chart. I ran my finger down the page and said, Designed by Herman Snellen, a Dutch ophthalmologist.

Funny name, Nigel muttered as he scanned the page with his eyes squinted. What’s an ophthalmologist, an eye doctor?

Yep. I had won a blue ribbon on my science fair project about vision problems way back in the sixth grade. That was two years ago, but I still remembered much about the subject and didn’t mind sharing. Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.

Whatever. Nigel frowned. I wasn’t sure if he already knew what ophthalmology was or if he didn’t care. He squinted at the page and then said, 1862? Snelling?

Snellen.

What?

His name is Snellen.

Whatever. Nigel rolled his eyes. Gee whiz, Sam. 1862 was a long time ago. I need a modern chart. How about a 1978 version? Where are they kept?

They still use this one.

No way. Nigel sneered at me, oozing disbelief.

Way, I said, lifting my chin slightly. All Nigel needed to do was read a few more lines, and then he would have known it without me telling him. I tapped the page, and his eyes returned to the book. It says here, it is a ubiquitous standard in medical offices.

You bicky is who? Nigel shrugged and gave me his best deer-in-the-headlights look.

It means they are found everywhere. Think about it—our eyes work the same way they have since creation, so once someone made a good chart, why would anyone need to invent a new one?

I don’t know, said Nigel. "What if somebody memorized the chart and