I Am Still Here!

By Yvonne Ortega

Marie is a work alcoholic lawyer with three weeks off to go through and pack up the 200 year old house that her grandmother left to her. She will discover family secrets and meet several people along the way that will change her life in ways she could never imagine. In the end was it all real or a dream?
Come take a walk with Marie, bring a box of tissues and an wondrous open mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Dec 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781982260439

Yvonne Ortega

Yvonne is a single mother, who has worked two jobs most of her life. She is most proud of her years as a firefighter for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, “CDF”, US Forest Service and Castle Air Force Base, Fire Department. She is a Certified Massage Therapist and Reiki Master. She is now semi-retired, and when she is not working, she is an avid collector of tiny books.

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Copyright © 2021 Yvonne Ortega.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-6042-2 (sc)

978-1-9822-6043-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020925065

Balboa Press rev. date: 12/23/2021

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Annabelle Marie Mason and Zachariah Ron Mason born November ³rd, 1862 Twins born at sunrise

About the Author

This book is dedicated to my Muse, may you wonder no further for you are not forgotten.

Image%202jpg%20Muse.jpg

Introduction

Time travel and Reincarnation have baffled the human mind since the beginning of time. Wikipedia defines both as follows: Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious belief that the non-physical essence of a living being starts a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. It is also called rebirth or transmigration. Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a widely recognized concept in philosophy and fiction. But are they real? Enter either topic in any search engine and you will come up with endless readings from scientific papers to theology and just plan fiction articles to overload your mind. All will give you something to ponder. But it all comes down to one simple truth. And that is, what do you believe?

During an iridology glass I was taking. We all had pictures of our eyes taken, to learn how to read the health signs of our bodies better. That is the day I met her. Go back and look at the picture of my eye. Look closely, you will see her kneeling there. I know not her name, I have spent years wondering who she is, talking to her, asking her to reveal the mystery of her story and how she came to be part of my being. This is the story she has told me.

Babe STOP! Look at your hands, they are full of cuts and starting to bleed. Babe, please stop.

I’m not crazy, I know it’s here! It’s got to be here! Pulling the bushes and weeds with my hands. Finally before me in perfect shape, as if it had just been placed there yesterday was a beautiful polished black…

MARIE! MARIE! MARIE! Please stop pacing. You need to relax. The jury is going to come back with a verdict when they are ready. You presented all the facts and…

I know Mindy but it’s been 4 hours! They can’t let that serial rapist who now has murdered someone off on that stupid insanity bull shit, his lawyer is trying to pull.

Marie they are going over all the evidence you presented and will come back with the right decision. Why don’t you tell me about this vacation you are taking, Marie?

Ah, what? Oh, my vacation?

Sit, talk to me it will take your mind off the jury and Peter will call us when the jury comes in. Vacation! I wish it was a vacation. I am going to Virginia to deal with my grandmother’s estate. She passed away 9 months ago, and I have not had time since the funeral to go back out there.

So as the lawyer in the family you are handling everything?

Not quite, my grandmother, Yaya I called her that, left the land, house and all its contents to me. Wow! What did your family say?

My mother’s sister, my Aunt Ann Marie was somewhat upset. The house has been in the family for as long as anyone can remember. She feels because she is the oldest, the house should have been hers. What are you going to do with the house?

Ron wants me to sell it.

You’re not, are you?

I don’t think I could. I spent every summer there with Yaya growing up. We’d spend hours talking about the the house that’s how Yaya referred to her home. The house like it was a member of the family. She always said to me, Mimi, that is what she called me. Mimi you are the only one who truly understands the role of this house in the history of our family. I think, that is why she left it to me. I’ll go out there and go through Yaya’s belongings. It’s only fair that I pass some of her belongings to all her children and other grandchildren.

The door to the office opened and Peter stuck his head in. The jury is coming in. When we walked into the court room the defense team was sitting there. John Graham, his little brother Joe and Tiffany Acosta, I think she was brought along just for the jury to look at. All three of them looking like the cat that ate the rat. We took our seats just as the bailiff announced Judge Marshalls entrance. The jury was brought in. All had great poker faces. I was reviewing the whole case and pacing in my head I thought, until Peter grabbed my hand and said stop mumbling under his breath.

Judge Marshall said Ladies and Gentleman of the jury have you a verdict? My heart skipped a beat, and we all held our breath. We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Guilty.

January 31, 2011, 2:30 am. Checking to make sure all my bags are packed, that I did not forget anything and writing some final notes for Mindy and Peter. Hard to believe two weeks have already gone by since the trial. My flight leaves at 7:00am. Ron is still asleep. LAX is only 30 minutes away but I hate being late. Besides I kinda like how silent the city is this early. I can hear myself think. 6 weeks to go through my grandmother’s life of collections and decide what I will do with the house our family legacy. Yah Mason, no pressure there!

You talking to yourself again Ms. Mason?

Yes, I am Mr. Murphy. Nice of you to finally get up! Thought I was going to have to call a cab to take me to the airport. My flight was on time. With the time zone change I landed in Richmond, VA at 6:30 pm. The plan was to spend the night here then first thing in the morning pick up the jeep I rented for the next 6 weeks. It’s 160 miles to Augusta Springs. Yaya never told me how our family came to settle there. The 3 hour drive was surprisingly nice, the weather had cleared some, only had a few sprinkles. The house was actually ten miles out of town. I had to stop at the Miller’s house to pick up the key. Robert and Jennifer Miller, they were Yaya’s nearest neighbors. They bought the house five miles down the road about 10 years ago. They had two girls and I just learned Jennifer was 8 months along with what they hoped was a little boy. Robert was keeping the yard under control, watching the house and Duke. Duke was Yaya’s black lab. Robert said duke would go to the house every day and sit on the porch. He’d come back to eat, then return to his spot on the porch. As I drove that last mile I thought about duke. He has been by Yaya’s side for as long as I can remember. How odd that seems now. Dogs can’t live that long, can they?

I pulled up the drive to the house, stopping just as the house came into view and stared. I’d forgotten how beautiful this place was. As if time stood still, before my eyes sat an 1836 two story portico, red colonial molded brick house. The portico and the two huge columns that span the entire two stories of the house were painted to look like marble and sandstone. Eight windows faced the front of the house. The contrast of the red brick made the portico look like the entrance of a Greek monument. Two huge fireplaces at either end of the house. Two smaller fireplaces in the adjoining building that is the old kitchen and maid’s quarters. Though Yaya never had a maid that I ever saw. Who knows what she did in the winter when I was not there. Not sure if it was Yaya or her mother that refused to modernize the house. Sometime in the 1950’s or 60’s an addition to the house was built with indoor plumbing. A large open kitchen, laundry room, bathroom and screened porch downstairs, upstairs another bathroom and two bedrooms. The older part of the house was never upgraded to have electricity. Duke stood up barked once, then began