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    Shifting Sands: His Hell. Her Prison.
    Shifting Sands: His Hell. Her Prison.
    Shifting Sands: His Hell. Her Prison.
    Ebook75 pages1 hour

    Shifting Sands: His Hell. Her Prison.

    By M. Todd Henderson

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    About this ebook

    M. Todd Henderson, a former advertising and marketing executive has published a book that echoes many painful truths in his own life.

    Entitled Shifting Sands: His Hell. Her Prison, the book is the story of the tumultuous life of a mentally ill husband and father, Scott Walters, who struggles to find hope in the face of crushing despair. The author is quick to note that the book is fiction, yet portions are based on his painful real-life experiences and observations.

    It was June 2003 when I was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder which, no doubt, had gone undiagnosed for my entire life, Henderson says. My childhood, 20s, 30s, and 40s were sprinkled with bipolar symptoms, including extreme anxiety attacks My symptoms also included severe depressionextended periods of time inside a six-foot cube with no stimulus. No light sneaking in through my lids. No sound other than shallow, rushed breaths. No breeze touching my face. Alone.

    In Shifting Sands: His Hell. Her Prison, the protagonist believes he is receiving counsel from a dead girl who claims to be his guardian angel. He fights alcohol addiction and seeks dramatic medical alternatives in a desperate attempt to bring some normalcy to his life with his wife and two sons.

    During over two years of researching and writing Shifting Sands: His Hell. Her Prison, I learned how profoundly mental health disorders effect not only the mentally ill, but, just as dramatically, their loved ones, Henderson says. Its my genuine hope that Shifting Sands reaches out and bonds with this besieged minority with a message of understanding, enlightenment, and hope.

    According to Henderson, the main characters story of hope and despair continues in his short story collection.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateMay 26, 2011
    ISBN9781462015207
    Shifting Sands: His Hell. Her Prison.
    Author

    M. Todd Henderson

    M. Todd Henderson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He graduated from Indiana University’s School of Journalism in 1981. His career includes nearly thirty years in the advertising and marketing business. In addition he served as an AmeriCorpsVISTA volunteer to help fight poverty in his adopted North Carolina. Todd and his family live near Raleigh, North Carolina. The author can be contacted at hendermt1@gmail.com.

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      Book preview

      Shifting Sands - M. Todd Henderson

      Copyright © 2011 M. Todd Henderson

      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 publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      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.

      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.

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-1519-1 (pbk)

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-1520-7 (ebk)

      Printed in the United States of America

      iUniverse rev. date: 5/9/2011

      For Lori

      Out of Despair Glows Enlightenment.

      Out of Enlightenment Shines Hope.

      Contents

      CHAPTER ONE

      Moonbeams and Hobos

      CHAPTER TWO

      Dental Floss and Shoelaces

      CHAPTER THREE

      Empty Pockets

      CHAPTER FOUR

      PBR, KOA, and ECT

      CHAPTER FIVE

      The Kinetic Cycle

      CHAPTER ONE

      Moonbeams and Hobos

      Tonight. The night for the last night to begin. The evil inside assures that it will evict the vile pain and all-consuming hate. Then peace can return. It’s time, Scott. Time to rid you of your demons. In exchange for your soul, Satan whispers with a flutter of excitement.

      As Scott dashes across the empty field, Wendy’s silky-white-lacey bath robe flowing from his sholders, his heart pumps rapidly, attempting to keep up with his lungs. At fifty he’s not accustomed to a sustained run. The moon. A perfect orb. He grasps for it. Penetrating warmth. His face glows. In his ear the Lord God says, Beware of Satan’s lies. Keep ‘hold of the moon’s warmth and return to the safety of the ones who love you.

      I see … moon and … moon sees me. The … sees somebody I’d … to see, Scott stutter-sings. Love and illumination of the moon lead Scott back toward Wendy and the boys.

      He stops. A blackness so complete it shrouds the moon and reaches past the shallow roots of trumpet vine and even beyond the deep roots of Johnsongrass.

      With pride, Satan says, Scott, there is nothing I cannot do. Listen to me. I can reverse the flow of the longest snakes of water in the world. I can offer immortality to you, Wendy, and your children. All you have to do is keep running and tell me that your soul is mine. Satan’s tongues slither in and out of Scott’s ears. Hundreds of tiny, forked tongues. Some bite. Some tickle. All leave behind the stench of thick, burning mucus and escalating fear.

      Satan is a trickster and the greatest of the greatest con-men. Scott, listen to the words of your mind. Not his. Be vigilant, says the Lord God.

      Get to those tracks, pretty boy, Satan says, with a smidge of desperation. It’s time to sleep away the pain and anger. Do not listen to Him. It is He who lies. And abandons you. Where has He been all this time? When you lost your job after fifteen years? When your father died, I was there. Or when your friend passed? He didn’t send flowers. Or even a card. Where was He when you went bankrupt? Scott picks up the pace, following Satan’s path. He runs across the field, up and over the tree-line-barbed-fence, through straggly pines, and to the rail crossing. Closer to the tracks—enervated, yet in motion—he lays on the rail. Now sleeping pills and Cabernet move freely through his veins. His blue eyes are half open. He tires more and lies on his left side between the rails. His shoulder-length thick black hair is his pillow. The robe, his blanket. Asleep.

      One a.m. The Amtrak Carolinian speeds toward downtown Raleigh. As the passenger train slices through a December Carolina night, three blasts of its horn proudly announce an on-time arrival. Passed out, Scott is completely unaware of his environs.

      The blinking crossing arms drop projecting intermittent crimson light onto the polished tracks and Scott’s body. Satan says, Sleep, Scott. Sleep. Concurrently, the Lord sweeps the moon free of Satan’s army of demons. Instantly, the moon’s warm glow returns, but it’s not enough to stir Scott.

      Moonlight beams onto Wendy’s face and suddenly awakens her. She searches between the sheets for Scott. Nothing but his waning warmth and scent. What’s going on? Scott. Scott? Are you in here? Her concern and fear over his safety escalated rapidly with good reason. A few days ago Scott disappeared in the night only to be found around ten the next morning wandering aimlessly through an adjoining neighborhood in his night clothes.

      Wendy moves through the bedroom, down the hall, and across the family room. On to the darkened entryway where she upsets a wine bottle—no doubt a cab—and scatters an array of meds. My God. He’s gone. Beyond the open door sits Sadie.

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