| An Excerpt from CHANGING LIVES |
| Chapter One October 2002 |
It was a perfect day to start over.
Patches of yellow, orange, red and gold spotted the foothills above scattered buildings to the west.
Unyielding October sunshine compelled the trees and bushes to shimmer and gave shadows
substance. The faded steering wheel jerked in her hand and granted Amy Lynch a sense of reality,
an anchor to the moment. She caressed the wooden stick-shift knob and admired the solid
features of the dashboard. The weight of the pickup clung to the road. The tightness of the
suspension felt reassuring after the cushioned ride of the BMW. The truck was a good trade, she
thought, a different vehicle for a different life. Heat rose in waves from the dark asphalt as Amy
guided the truck through the intersection of Broadway and Colorado Highway 36, turned northwest,
and left Denver, Boulder and the tumult of her old life behind.
Relief and excitement worked their tentacles into her chest cavity releasing the knotted muscles
that cramped her lungs. She breathed deep.
Amy would not miss her former life. She was sure about that. She wanted no more emergency
calls in the middle of the night; no more angry customers complaining about start-up problems or
added cost; no more attempts to please the bigwigs at SolveCom who expected their project
managers to accomplish the impossible with less and less time, capital and personnel. Her
superiors had not wanted her to leave but she declined their last offer when she returned her
company cell phone, ID badge and laptop. She had to go before the work suffered, before
someone noticed the cracks in her facade. It was time for a clean break. No one at the office had
her new numbers and addresses. To them she had dropped off the earth.
How Amy longed to resign from her internal life as well. If she could erase the demons from her
mind as she had scrubbed the memory from her hard drive, then this would be a new beginning.
But she would not think about that. She had a challenge ahead that would require all of her
attention and, if she was lucky, would leave no space for memories or nightmares.
| CHANGING LIVES is Patricia A. Henisse's first novel. |
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Featuring the work of Patricia A. Henisse