It's About Time

By Michael Allender

The last in a series of fourteen short stories. It’s been a long road for Abbie Joules, plumbing the depths of her memory for the stories and antidotes of Bendigo’s life, her brother who died in a tragic accident when Abbie was just a girl, an accident she blames herself for. Having finished writing the tales about his life, she is left with one last story that she has never told— the one about that fateful day long ago. It has taken those long years for her to come to a point where she can put on paper what happened on a river trip in East Texas, as she resolves to take one last journey herself in his memory. Follow Abbie as she finally manages to come to terms with her own grief, and move on to fulfill the promise she made to Ben.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Allender
• Release date: Apr 14, 2021

Michael Allender

I was born in Dalhart, Texas, received degrees at Texas A&M in Wildlife Science and Psychology, and did post graduate work at Utah State in ethology. I worked as a professional photographer and wildlife artist, and authored "The Guadalupe Mountains Of Texas", published by the University of Texas Press, a coffee table book of a west Texas national park. I then worked for 25 years as a wood craftsman and entrepreneur. I currently live in Redmond, Oregon, and avail myself of every opportunity to paddle the wild rivers of the Pacific Northwest, from California to northern Canada and Alaska.

Book preview

IT’S ABOUT TIME

by

Michael Allender

Copyright 2014 Michael Allender

Smashwords Edition

(Story fourteen in a series of fourteen stories)

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

It’s About Time

(Story # 14)

The beginnings of this book seem lost in the seasons of time to me now, though the reasons behind its conception remain sharp and distinct, like an icicle dropped down the back of your shirt.

I remember noting in the opening dedication that I was not yet capable of writing about certain parts of Ben's life, those events that shaped the last of his days. Time is a painfully slow healer, doing its work without altering the facts or the chain of events along which those facts are strung. The memories of that day have lain frozen in the recesses of my mind, waiting for a warmer and more benign environment in which to thaw and come to light. And now, though I am bringing to the surface images once too agonizing to bear, the pain has lessened, dulled by the march of years and softened through the memories that I have shared with you.

I knew I could never adequately tell the whole story of Ben's