Chapter Quote of the Day

They walked into the school gym, stunned at the transformation. The prom committee had tented the ceiling of the gym in gauzy white fabric, backlit by thousands of tiny twinkling white lights. The fabric strips draped to the floor, hiding the massive bleachers, padded walls, gym socks or any other hint of smelly boys. Lily, with a boy on each arm, glowed. "It looks like a fairyland!" Jack highly doubted that. Unfortunately, the one person he could laugh about it with was not here. His heart ached with missing Kira. ~ Chapter 62 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Sheila looked up at Jack and waved her spatula in the air. "Whatever happened to that little thing that shook you up so much before I left? Kirsten was it?"
Jack felt a pressure on his heart at the mention of her. He responded quietly, "Kira."
"Yes, that was her. She was so sweet. I thought that you would take her to prom."
Jack paused, before answering as truthfully as he could, "She moved back with her parents."
"That's such a shame. You two had a... connection. In my day we called it sparks." ~ Chapter 61 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack threw himself into activity. He got up early and ran miles, carefully avoiding the forest, because it felt wrong to be there without Kira by his side. He played soccer after school and started running practice drills with Sam in the evenings. The activity made his heart beat again… and that was good.
It had taken a month, but Jack was now able to smile a real smile, and laugh because he felt like it. He thought, “Maybe in another six months or so, this pain in my chest will ease.” ~ Chapter 61 ~

Sunday Ponderings

"Paradise is always where love dwells."

Jean Paul Richter

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack woke up to the smell of frying bacon. Rolling over, he smacked the top of his alarm clock and buried his face in his pillow… for just a moment longer. The edges of his dreams drifted in and out of focus. If he tried really hard, he could see Kira so clearly… He clung to the dream of them in the field of waving grass. In that one moment, they were equal and free. In that one moment, he truly loved Kira and nothing else mattered. ~ Chapter 61 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack walked through the gate and out of her life without even one backwards glance. Tears started to trickle down her cheek, one by one, until they became a steady stream. Kira’s body started to shake and she crumpled to the ground. It felt as if her heart had been torn from her chest and followed Jack from the city. On the edge of a sob Kira whispered, “Goodbye, Jack.” ~ Chapter 59 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack leaned back on his elbows, with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle in front of him. He looked over at Kira, and asked the question she had been thinking herself, “So, will I see you again?”
He felt the tugging ache again, as she said, “I don’t know. I will be assigned another human in a couple of weeks.” Kira laid back on the sandy rise and looked up at the schools of fish swimming above them.
Jack inched next to her and looked down into her beautiful green eyes. His deep dimple appeared, and Kira smiled sadly. “I can’t believe I am going to miss you.” She punched him lightly in the arm.
Jack replied with a quiet sincerity. “Me too.” ~ Chapter 58 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Kira walked over and knelt on the floor at Jack’s feet. She avoided his eyes, and Jack felt like he was already losing her. He hated that he couldn’t take her into his arms and kiss her, and tell her how much just the thought of leaving, was killing him… how much he needed her… and how much he loved her to his very core. ~ Chapter 58 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

When all was quiet, Kira unfolded her legs from the chair and walked across the room. With each step she took, she could feel the open wound in her heart start to heal. Her family had tried to talk with her, and tease her, and comfort her, but right now, she needed only one person. Jack.
Kira knelt on the floor next to the couch. Her hand reached out and gently took hold of his. She brushed his knuckles across her cheek and softly pressed a kiss into the back of his hand. The familiar tingle of Jack’s touch ran up her arm and spread into her heart. Kira laid her forehead against his chest. She felt so lost. Confused and lost. ~ Chapter 57 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Kira and her mother knelt on either side of Jack to begin trying to heal the parts that they could. Kira cupped his face and felt the warmth of her powers leave her body. Jack’s eyes fluttered open and focused on her for one instant. The corner of his mouth lifted before his eyes drifted shut again. His face quickly melded back to its original form and Kira brushed back a lock of his hair that was curled over his forehead. Her heart felt like it had a hole in it, but it was still beating. Kira bit her lip, and thought, “Oh, Jack! Please don’t give up on me now.”
Kira swiped at a tear that had the audacity to roll down her cheek. “I did this. I just let this happen. I knew he couldn’t handle a fairy, but I didn’t even move to help him until it was too late.”
“He fought a fairy?” Her mother looked down in awe at the deathly pale young man before her. ~Chapter 57 ~

Sunday Ponderings

The best way out is always through.
Robert Frost

Chapter Quote of the Day

Kira waited… again… but this time she was waiting with the knowledge that she had to solve this on her own. The consequences of failing were too brutal to even contemplate.
Kira gathered every last bit of power within her. It would only be a second before Phan would be close enough to touch her. A shiver of revulsion rolled through her at the thought. Kira took a deep, bracing breath, and on the exhale, she twisted her body around and shot the heel of her hand with maximum force into his chest. Phan’s body flew across the yard and landed with a thud against the old stump he had leaned against earlier. He just laid there clutching his chest, trying to breathe. Kira leapt onto the rail of the porch and switched her focus to Finn. She narrowed her eyes and spit out between clenched teeth, “Ready to play?” ~ Chapter 57 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack’s heart screamed out! The fear of death didn’t even faze him, it was shadowed now by the knowledge that he couldn’t save Kira. His best was not good enough. ~ Chapter 56 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack stepped behind her, and waited. Kira closed her eyes and tipped her head back to focus her energy. The comforting presence of Jack lifted her confidence. He stood silent, and ran his hand down the long rope of hair swaying before him. “Jack.”
“Hum?”
“Stop touching… you’re distracting me.”
Jack’s dimple popped out, as he asked, “Distracting?”
Kira shook her head, making her thick braid wave away from his hand. “We don’t have time for distracting, Jack.” ~ Chapter 55 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

“Aaah, come on, Phan, you gotta lemme do sumthin’.”
Phan shrugged his shoulders, unable to deny his need for a little mischief. “Alright, one pint, but not another drop.”
Finn did a back flip over the rail, and then leapt up into the air a solid fifteen feet, before he landed twenty or more feet away from the house. “Wooooohoooo! Come on, let’s get gone!”
Phan chuckled and took a two step running start before gliding smoothly into the night. He executed a perfect double turn in the air with his coat snapping out behind him. He landed in a crouch. “Aaaah, it does feel good to stretch my legs after being cramped up for so long.” Phan stood up and flexed his lithe body.
The fairies left the field, egging each other on, one after the other, seeing who could out perform the other in height and staggeringly awesome flips.
Jack’s jaw dropped open. “Those are fairies?” ~ Chapter 54 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

This is one of my favorite parts in the book. When things get tough, but Jack tries to tease Kira back into good spirits.

Jack squatted down in front of her and hooked her chin. He lifted her gaze to meet his. “This is not the stubborn, pushy, overbearing Kira I know.” His voice was soft and filled with concern, before it turned smirky, and his dimple peeked out. “Besides, if you turn into a lump, I am so leaving your ass behind.”
Kira couldn’t help the small smile that crept up her face. “You are an awful human being, Jack! Now, just let me sulk for a minute, will you?” ~ Chapter 53 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Kira blinked and held her breath. Her thoughts were in a whirl. “I really shouldn’t be doing this. He’s my human. I can’t…” But then, she felt the warmth of his lips seep into her. Kira closed her eyes and grasped a hold of his tunic. She felt like everything around her was spinning again. Her mind went blank, and her heart thudded its approval. ~ Chapter 53 ~

Sunday Ponderings

In honor of Valentine's Day, a true moment of love.

“Love is too weak a word for what I feel — I luuurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F’s, yes I have to invent, of course I do, don’t you think I do?”
—Alvy (Woody Allen) to Annie (Diane Keaton)

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack grasped her hand and lowered it, while keeping their fingers intertwined. “Fine, no more wishes. But…” Kira’s heart thudded heavily. She could feel her very soul reaching out to him again, and she could do nothing to prevent it. Jack sighed and shook his head, unsure of how to voice what was inside of him. Jack looked down at their laced hands. He ran his fingers lightly over hers. Kira smiled softly as she felt their powers tickling up her arms.
Jack’s brow furrowed, and he said in a near whisper, “I would give up so much for tomorrow to never come… To stay here in this moment.” ~ Chapter 53 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Kira’s heart was pounding in her throat, her insides felt like they were being put through a blender, and her head… her poor head. She pressed her forehead to Jack’s chest and kept her eyes tightly closed against the spinning scenery. Kira clung tightly to Jack, with her arms wrapped around his back. She felt a moment’s reprieve just before being dropped from the sky. ~ Chapter 53 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack reached out and put his hand on her knee. “I’m sorry, Kira. I can't even imagine how you're feeling.”

Kira looked up, perplexed. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Jack. Your life has been tipped upside down and then shaken about several times in the last couple of days. Geez Jack, you just found out ---Edited To Avoid Spoilers---, and you don’t even know what that is.” The more words that tumbled out of her mouth, the closer her emotions came to the surface, ready to erupt. “You may not be able to imagine how I am feeling, but I didn’t even take into account what you might be feeling. I just pushed and pushed, and now look where we are. All I did was reopen an old wound for you and rub salt into it. I am, like, the worst Jinni there is, and you were stuck with me.” Kira sniffed and rubbed at her nose with the back of her hand.

Chapter Quote of the Day

"It's your choosing ball... the one that picked you. It... it means it's done, the quest." Kira tried in vain to put a smile on her face. "I'm betting you will be glad to see the last of me."
Jack walked back to Kira, lifted her chin with one finger until her eyes met his. His heart ached with so many emotions swirling inside of him. He was confused and scared and sad and so many other things. He knew that Kira was taken, but he couldn’t stand the thought of leaving her. He looked deep into her eyes, and whispered, "I'm betting you're wrong." ~ Chapter 51 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Kira stepped up next to Brennan and took in Jack from the top to bottom. “Do you trust me?”
Jack paused a little too long before Kira burst out, “Oh come on!”
Jack cracked the saddest excuse for a smile, and said, “Just tell me what to do.” ~ Chapter 50 ~

Inspiration!

This is the perfect song for Book 2... and the execution is a little more than fun :D

Chapter Quote of the Day

“Alright Jack, you would like to get home, back to your nice quiet Jinni free life, and… I think that I have figured out how you can. But it will require your sanity, or at least a semblance of it, for short trip into the city. Are you there yet?”
Jack took a deep breath and lifted his head. Kira inwardly cringed at the broken look in his eyes. She had done this to him. She reached out and almost touched him… but she held back. “I’m sorry Jack. We can stop this now and put all of the pieces back together. I know how much your safe world means to you, and I cannot even fathom how much you have had to give up these last few days. ~ Chapter 50 ~

Sunday Ponderings

My all time favorite book ever written is Dr Seuss' Oh, The Places You'll Go!. I believe that within its pages almost all life lessons can be learned... but mostly it teaches you to have faith when times get tough.
I instantly thought of this book when I read the following quote...

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

I'm afraid that self-publishing is a bit like entering...
'a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?'
There is no guide to tell you where to go and what to do. You just have to go forward with faith, trusting in your abilities until you see the fingers of dawn lighting your way.

Chapter Quote of the Day

The dream from the night before was still haunting him. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had lived that dream. ~ Chapter 49 ~

(Michael Buble singing Dream a Little Dream of Me)

Chapter Quote of the Day

Kira flopped on her back and looked at the faint glow of the city coming from the window in the ceiling above her bed. She could see the shadows of aquatic animals swimming across the nightscape. In her fatigue, she let her mind wander where it would. “Jack is probably looking at the same view as this. He must truly be living his worst nightmare… Lost in a magic kingdom… with genies… and fairies. Where up is down and down is foreign. No idea how to plan his way out of this… and sleeping in the same room as a strange, supernatural boy. Poor Jack! He’s taken it all so well.” Kira smiled sadly. Her last thought as she drifted away was, “It’s no wonder I’ve fallen so madly in love with him.” ~ Chapter 48 ~

Chapter Quote of the Day

Brennan turned and eyed Jack again. “So are you two friends, or what?”
Jack didn’t want to talk with this guy, who was hugging Kira intimately just minutes before, about his feelings for her. He couldn’t even formulate the words to explain his relationship with Kira. The only word that came to mind was, “Complicated!” Jack said instead, “I don’t know exactly what you mean by that, but I’m guessing ‘not friends’ would be the right answer, since I don’t even really know who she is.” ~ Chapter 47 ~

!!! February Challenge !!!

Thank you all for your support during the January Challenge. We almost doubled the number of comments on Amazon... Which is phenomenal! It is a new month with a new challenge ahead.


!!! February Challenge !!!

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Thank you all for participating!!! Stay tuned for the February Challenge!

Chapter Quote of the Day

Jack reached out his hand toward Brennan, “I’m Jack.”
Brennan stood tall with his arms folded tightly across his chest. Kira leaned over and punched his arm. “Oh, stop it!”
Brennan continued to glare at Jack. Jack dropped his hand and glared back.
Kira sighed, “Look you two, behave! I need to go home, but if I can’t trust you two to play nice, I am going to have to find someone else to help me.” She glared at Brennan.
Brennan relaxed his stance a little and sighed. “Oh come on, Kir! You know I was just playing with him.” ~ Chapter 46 ~