All the Kings Houses

By L.E. Hastings

Everyone has a story to tell, everyone. With author L. E. Hastings, writing has become one of his greatest tools to date on going through lifes many ups and downs and how he, how we, soothe the wounds and the joys on this road of healing. Here once again he has opened the door to his world and let us, the readers, take a few glimpses into his mind and life, where stories of faith, love, and loss begin the healing through trust, prayer, and hope with his new publication, All the Kings Houses.

Writing down his thoughts has helped him cope with the thorns and with the joys of life. It has also been his way to pass on the message of healing and living to others. From the insightful stories like Prayers to Ruled by More to In the Great and Endless and in the heartfelt stories of My Mothers Pen and Walking Stick, each reader will embark on a journey in understanding one another in life. They will identify how they live, love, and accept all the things they can face, be it the many obstacles in their path, the sturdy mountains they need to climb, or the countless rivers they need to cross.

All the kings people are given the chance to live in the most meaningful way, and they alone hold the key to do so. They may be hurting with the wounds today, they may bleed and be left with a scar, but it will fade in time. We are all kings people, and whats important today is that we dont let our spirit break.

All the Kings Houses will definitely wind its way into the readers hearts and pass them the message of hope and encouragement and even some laughter. It may not stop their pain right away, but it will help them heal eventually and make them believe that they are not alone in their struggles today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503584198

L.E. Hastings

A New England native, L.E. Hastings continues projects with his writing and working with a wide range of individuals with disabilities and in treatment with addiction behaviors along with volunteering. His spare time he enjoys his family and friends that has kept growing as the days turn into weeks and years.

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Copyright © 2015 by L.E. Hastings.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/08/2015

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Contents

Bad Teaching Skills

It’s What We Do

When I Decide

Prides Bride

Turn Around

Liar, Cheat, and a Thief

Insidious - But what’s in a Word

Little Red Ball

Prayers

My Mothers Pen

Hurry up and Wait

How’s that working for Ya

Fate Fortunes the faithful through fog Weather Rain

In the Great and Endless

Walking Stick

In Spite of Myself

The Sick Store

Ruled by More

Yard-Sailing Zombies

All the Kings Houses’

Also by L.E. Hastings

The House on Blue Lawn

When Life & Reality Collide

Blue Lawn and Collide

You, Me, and Everything In-Between

All the Kings Houses’

Taking it to the Filter*

*Forthcoming

This book is dedicated to

My brothers’

Myron

&

Erich

Preface

So I’m sitting here looking over all these new short stories I’ve written throughout the phases of my writing, some half started, some - just the tittle, and some done.

It was never in my wildest dreams that I would be looking at getting another book together and one that has touched my life as some of these stories do.

As I write out a story, most times my mind will wander off and I’ll have to put my other thoughts down on a separate piece of paper – which my other half usually finds lying around our home and has to ask, (For the millionth time) Are these any good?

To which I reply. Oh God yes!

As I gather them all and place them in a safe place, usually one that I can’t remember.

So when I started to go through the many short stories and tittles and even phrases that I’ve written down I come upon a title of a book of my youth, Humpty Dumpty.

Well more to the point, the phrase, All the kings horses.

But what I equally wrote down was, All the kings’ houses’.

It just struck me funny as I read this and reread this phrase that as I started to go through these stories there might be a common thread.

One of faith.

Faith in myself or others around me.

Faith in God or religious teaching and the faith that going through life with some sort of help.

Either from others or within that makes us all houses’.

To all the ways we look at things.

All the things that mark a point in time in our lives to all those kings’ around us that we learn from or run from.

To all the billions of people that house whatever their faith that resides within them – due to their up-bringing or life’s experiences.

What started out looking over my notes was just another milestone within my writing and in my life that things will work out the way they are supposed to.

It was never my intention to put more short stories together – but what starts out as one thing usually ends up much different in the end.

It’s in the God of my understanding at any point, in anything and anywhere that keeps me on the path today.

When I see the point of views that others have seen and used in their lives, I’m shown that this stuff works.

Before or during whatever they may be going through at that moment they were the ones that were helping themselves by turning it over to their higher power, their God of their own understanding.

Right from the start they seem to have faith.

When I start out thinking that I may have the right answers for something or someone - I first have to make sure that I’m on solid ground with God.

First and foremost, it has to start with me.

Then and only then can I be helpful to others around me and myself today.

So here I am writing and watching these words being typed out and I can’t help but think, "What do I need to get through this moment?

What does it take to change?

When does the pain become so bad I need to stop or move on? Or go forward in my life?"

The answer or answers are probably within me, if I’m honest with the people who are around me in that moment and most importantly my relationship with God.

It’s been said to me growing up, Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you’ll end up in the stars.

Then I have those friends that will tell me, If your dreams become dust - use a vacuum.

Either way the door to that inner spirit lies within me if I’m willing to trust and accept.

No one has the monopoly on spirit or faith – the News Shows show us that all the time how all that works out for us.

How I or we can be influenced by what I’ve read or what we read and who we talked to at any given moment in our lives can have a lasting effect on us - on me.

The house of the spirit is in all of us I would like to believe today.

Whatever your belief, whatever your likes, dislikes are in life.

However I or you practice or partake in faith, it comes down to being very precise and can at times be very private.

But in the end it comes from within.

Sometimes it can look like a very big house full of song and prayers.

Other times it could be that small prayer just for another day – just one more.

We are all houses’ metaphorically speaking and we all have something or someone that resides over us.

Be it through faith or spirit or pride – it’s there nevertheless.

We are all the kings’ houses…

Endicott

A Collation of short stories by

L.E. Hastings

Bad Teaching Skills

It’s What we Do

When I Decide

Prides Bride

Turn Around

Liar, Cheat and a Thief

Insidious – But what’s in a word

Little Red Ball

Prayers

My Mothers Pen

Hurry up and Wait

How’s that working for Ya

Fate Fortunes the faithful through fog Weather Rain

In the Great and Endless

Walking Stick

In Spite of Myself

The Sick Store

Ruled by More

Yard-Sailing Zombies

All the Kings Houses’

Bad Teaching Skills

When she came into the room that morning she looked like she could’ve taken me down with a tackle in two seconds flat.

She introduces herself as the new behavioral specialists along with seven years of experience in schooling.

What walked in was sheer ego and as with all things relevant – just like two magnets, you are either drawn together or pushed apart.

I nearly flew across the room.

That morning as we walked down the hallway together – she would ask many questions.

Who is that?

"What