Excessica Anthology BOX SET Winter by Edited by Selena Kitt Read Free Book Online Page A

burned.
    “We witnessed
what you did tonight, once you shooed us away,” one of the spirits said as they
both floated to him. He couldn’t even respond. The way a body felt in shock as
it eased into death came back to him despite the centuries since his passing. He
felt as if he were dying all over again. In his past life, his body had been
brought down by the bullet of a white man. What he couldn’t understand was why
he felt the same now. He shouldn’t even still have this body if his time with
her was over.
    “I still had an
hour left!” His words, tight and angry, he couldn’t stop.
    “Now, you have
the rest of her life left.”
    “What?”
    “Given the
unethical relationship you formed with her, your work is now compromised. Without
you, she will not fulfill her destiny. You have altered her life path
irrevocably. Yet, with consideration to the work you have done over these past
centuries and the heroic death of your first life, you have been granted a
second one. You became a spirit of Christmas because you lost your life early
trying to save another. You have fulfilled many centuries of duty. You lived in
death as you lived in life, sacrificing yourself for the good of others. Because
of this you have been given a Christmas gift. You will return to earth with the
knowledge of where you have been retained. It will be a secret you will have to
keep to remain. You have been granted an identity. Live your lives together as
best you can keeping the secret you share of this night between you.”
    Just as quickly
as he left, he was back. From the living room where he stood, a man’s silly
cries to the spirit world mixed with the ominous sound of Janie’s weeping. Running
to her, he didn’t even pause with the thought of frightening her. He pulled her
curled form to him. Her cries were as ragged as his breaths as he tried to
explain what the Spirits had told him.
    As they rejoiced
against each other not needing words that would only fall short of their
feelings anyway, the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge rang out clearly from the TV.
    “Ghost of the
Future," he exclaimed, "I fear you more than any specter I have seen.
But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be
another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with
a thankful heart.”
    To this the
Spirit, now a man, quoted "Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to
which, if persevered in, they must lead…but if the courses be departed from,
the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!"
     
    Epilogue
    It was a
Christmas gift neither would ever forget. It was a gift of love given
unconditionally and without judgment of any kind once again by the Creator to
two souls in need. The spirit of Christmas Future became her present. With that
gift she learned to live true to her self, as he lived grateful for each moment
he had with her.
     
     

About Kiki
Howell
    Ever since
she was young, Kiki Howell loved to listen to a well-woven tale with real
characters, inspired plots, and delightful resolutions. Kiki could spend hours
lost in a book, and soon she knew that creating lives, loves, and losses with
just words had to be the greatest thing that she could do.
    To that end,
she pursued her study of literature and writing, earning a bachelor’s degree in
English. She then followed in a Master’s program in Creative Writing.
    “After a long
break having my boys, I finally just had to write again. And, as soon as I gave
the stories the space, they entered it. It’s both awesome and humbling to find
the words in my mind become characters on a page and create their lives.”
    Kiki resides
in the Midwest with her incredibly handsome and talented, singer/songwriter
husband and two children. When she is not writing, she is spending time with
her family, reading, baking or knitting.
    Visit
her site here !
     

ALLISON
    By Mallory
Path
    Thursday.
Spencer lies on his back for a while, as he does every Thursday