Dark Souls of Lake Grove

By Salene Hill

Lake Grove is a town where the living and the dead live in harmony. It is the past scene of a small, thriving, unnatural area that emerges into something wicked. The one family that stands out among the Joneses is the Pullmans. Their fate is wrapped around poverty, mystical forces, and a time when life stopped for women. Each character is thrown into the world of who will win the largest lottery in life and stay in Lake Grove.

 

One individual who survives the town's strange events is Sophie Pullman. Through years of racing against time and reestablishing Lake Grove, Sophie becomes a beast all by herself. She is feared by most people, but she embraces the overwhelming feeling that life stops for no one.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Salene Hill
• Release date: Jul 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223937197

Salene Hill

Salene Hill has been writing poems, proses, fiction and nonfiction for several years. Lately her writing craft has been created around: past history, current events, life stories, and positive thinking. Salene's next release will be a health secret of chance. 

Book preview

My Hometown

It was a busy summer season, in a particular small town. Most people enjoyed the hot temperature, if it was 90° or more. On this particular day, families were outside grilling holiday meals and hoping there would be a small rain shower. A new family of five had moved down the street. They seem different from the other individuals.

The town of Lake Grove was still in its beginning stages in the late 1960s. Everyday events in larger towns did not happen in Lake Grove. Three blocks from the new family's home, one could see the old municipal buildings and blossoming fruit trees. If a stranger decided to adventure into Lake Grove, they would also notice horse-drawn carriages and old ice cream parlors.

The mayor of Lake Grove was Mr. Townsend. He came from a respectable family in the town. His mother was a stay-at-home wife, and his father was a janitor. Years ago, people did not expect Mr. Townsend to graduate from high school; he was not particularly smart in history, math, or science classes. However, Townsend could always make people laugh despite his strange stuttering.

Another important person in Lake Grove was the sheriff, Mr. Dunwood. He was not from the local area, and certain people in the town did not trust him. Mr. Dunwood and Mr. Townsend had a separate type of friendship. No one ever understood if they were friends or foes.

The town's famous family of five, the Todd, Mr. and Mrs. Todd moved to Lake Grove 10 years ago from New York City. They gave the town a new type of modern revolution. The Todd family lived only three houses from the newcomers. Mrs. Todd always did her duty by baking expensive desserts for town events and parties.

There was another smaller family to the left of the newcomer's house. This family was named Heckleworth. The Heckleworths came from the poor side of Chicago in the late 1940s. Mr. Heckleworth made a living by selling tire parts to local car vendors.

Mrs. Heckleworth was an unusual wife who forever continued her high school education and loudly bragged about her late father's unknown gold mine. The newcomers had a rough time getting to know this small town.

On certain days, different families would knock at their front door and show a polite facial expression. Other days, politicians, such as the mayor, would invite themselves to the newcomers house unannounced. Sheriff Dunwood refused to make himself one of the newcomers' guests.

Mr. Dunwood told the mayor to give his country a warm welcome to the newcomers' house. He did not want others to think that he was a busybody or a boring person. The newcomers were so indifferent that they did not bother to miss the sheriff.

All of the houses in Lake Grove were one-story buildings. If you were the type of person wanting to purchase a two-story house in the area, your title was very important. Only the governor of the state owned a two-story house, and no one ever questioned his financial means.

The newcomers in Lake Grove wanted a much larger house but thought it was awkward to go to another town and search for something more modern. In such a rural area, it was accepted to remain forever, regardless of your economic level.

If a better-paying job presented itself in Lake Grove, no one dared apply for it. The newcomers had higher dreams than most people in the area. No one knew of this illusion; however, the mayor suspected something was different about the family.

The new family in town were Mr. and Mrs. Pullman and their three children, Heidi, Joe, and Sophie. Mr. Pullman worked as an insurance salesman. He traveled most of the time to larger towns; however, he did not make enough money to make a difference in gas prices.

Mrs. Pullman cooked and sewed for a living. Her largest sales profit was during Christmas, when she would craft clay Christmas trees. Heidi was the oldest sibling; she was 16 years old, very tall, had long black hair, and hazel eyes.

Her attractive looks turn the heads of most men in the new town. Joe was an exceptional, intelligent teenager of age 13. He was very jealous of his younger sibling, Sophie, because she got all of the attention. Sophie was also a different type of young teenager.

She was very quiet, did not want attention, and made bad grades in school. However, Mr. Pullman seemed to love her the most out of the three children. Mrs. Pullman noticed that Joe was sometimes watching Sophie interact with Mr. Pullman; Joe's gaze seemed morbid. Heidi did not react to either sibling's strangeness. She was all about beautifying herself and making sure that her plight in Lake Grove would be a success.

Each summer, the Pullman family drove down to Lake Grove from the small village. Mr. Pullman was always excited about larger places. even though Lake Grove had a population of only 4000 people. Mrs. Pullman did not like the large showcase that Lake Grove featured each Sunday at church.

Heidi, Joe, and Sophie thought of  Lake Grove as a retreat from everyday life and heavy chores. Mrs. Pullman would chastise the three children and make each child do housework, even on Saturdays. Heidi told her mother one day that she would run away to a land where no one worked or fed the cows.

Joe was interested in the possibility of following in his father's footsteps as an insurance salesman. However, he did not want to work as hard to make the money. Mr. Pullman lectured Joe on his thoughts about going to college and becoming a real businessman. Joe would run a nervous finger through his thick hair and retreat from his father's presence.

Unlike the two older children, Sophie decided that she would get her father's attention by following every instruction that our parents gave. She hoped that one day those instructions would make her rich or important. All three children were not clever enough to see their future in Lake Grove, and their present state seemed endless.

On a sunny June day, Mrs. Todd decided to knock on the Pullman’s front door. She wore a sleeveless orange and yellow dress, and her feet were decorated with expensive sandals. After three to four knocks, Mrs. Pullman opened the door and gave Mrs. Todd a fake smile.

Mrs. Todd slowly walked into the Pullman house and allowed Mrs. Pullman to take the unknown dessert dish from her small hand. She seemed unfamiliar with such inexpensive decor and paintings. Mrs. Pullman ushered her into the old kitchen and pulled out a chair.

Mrs. Todd quickly sat down and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible. Mrs. Pullman could tell that Mrs. Todd was not familiar with such poor establishments. Mrs. Pullman quickly understood that the woman needed a glass of water or some coffee to tone down her facial expressions. There was a loud clock ticking not too far from Mrs. Todd's head. The noise was so loud that both women nervously laughed.

"Mrs. Pullman, I