“We have time to figure it all out,” he said taking hold of my hand. Then his face went dead serious. He unbuckled himself, turned around in his seat so that his knees were on the seat cushion. He faced the twins, pointed a figure at them, and whispered sternly, “Not a word to anyone you understand!” He looked like a father scolding little children. Blatant laughter came from behind us.
I don’t know what made me more ill. The landing or the fact that in a few minutes my family was going to meet Dion’s family. After we landed, we passed through airport security easily. All we carried were duffel bags. Dion and his brothers shipped most of their possessions a week ago to their other brother Antony.
Antony having the ability to speak to animals left with his black panther, Layna a few months ago and purchased a home in St. Cloud, Florida. They shipped my one big suitcase.
My stomach sank the minute we came around the corner and approached the area where family members waited to pick up loved ones.
I saw Teal, my ex-fiancé with his perfect light tan skin, curly dirty blonde hair, band t-shirt, and board shorts. He stood with an assortment of balloons from ‘I love you’ to ‘welcome home’, and a small pot of dandelions. Nolan stood next to him anxiously looking out. My parents were nowhere in sight. They spotted me and both their faces lit up. Neither one would have guessed that the entourage of young men walking behind me, was not in fact random passengers heading in the same direction, but were with me.
Why Read?
By Marisette Burgess
As a teacher, I always began my first day of school with the same icebreaker. I would write two lies and a truth on the board about myself. It would look something like this:
Went to France over the summer.
Had to repeat the first grade.
Am an expert water skier.
The kids would then have to figure out which one was true. Every year I conducted the same experiment and every year I received the same results. The kids were never right.
The truth is I repeated the first grade. I couldn’t read, didn’t like it, and wouldn’t do it. How does a person who wouldn’t and couldn’t read end up becoming an author?
Here’s how:
For many years, I spent my school days in the lowest reading group, with long hours of make-up work, and having to do summer school. Then around fourth grade, I picked up a chapter book. Little did I know that that one chapter book would change my life forever? It was the first Nancy Drew novel. I sat there and gave it my best shot.
Ask yourself this, what is the one thing about mystery books that gets people hooked into them?
The answer is simple, you have to finish the book to find out who committed the crime. Mystery books are hard to put down simply because we want to figure out the mystery. That was it my friends, I was hooked. I started to read Nancy Drew books one after another. Before I knew it, I was reading a chapter book or two a week!
Unbelievable! All of a sudden by the time I reached fifth grade I went from the bottom-reading group to the highest. Yes, it is true. There was no miracle or magic at work here, simply the power of books. My world changed dramatically, school was easy, A’s were flowing in, and everyone was happy.
Then one day, around February of the fifth grade, I finished another mystery book and thought, “I can do this. It’s not that hard.”
And that was the first story I ever wrote. A mystery on Valentines. Once I finished the short story, I handed it to my first fan, my mother. I remember still to this day the minute she finished the story. The priceless look of shock on her face as she uttered the words, “Oh, you have talent.”
I don’t believe people are born able to walk we have to learn to do it. Same as intelligence, you can get smart. I would have never known I had a natural ability to spin words into stories if I hadn’t read those books in the first place.
My success in my academics didn’t stop with just the high reading group. I went further. By middle school, I was a swift composer of words. In the sixth grade, I wrote a two-page essay that paid me my first wage as a writer, two thousand dollars. After winning this prestigious award, my seventh grade English teacher asked if she could read my short novella. Proud of this fifty-page medieval love story, I more than eagerly handed it over to her. I recall that English class when she gave the whole class seatwork so that she could sit there in front of us and read the story. She sighed and giggled through parts. Everyone glanced at me, and beamed. She was utterly in awe. The story must have left an impression because the next thing I knew they were testing me for gifted.
Me, gifted? Not a chance! I was the kid who was the oldest in the class because I repeated first grade. I had been in the lowest reading groups and had to do summer school. Me…Gifted. How?
The answer is simple, I read myself smart. Yes, I passed that gifted test and went from the lowest of lows to the highest you could go.
Books changed my academic life. I went on to college and attained an English degree in writing from the University of Central Florida. I became a teacher enjoying every day when I hooked kids into books. Now I’m an author hoping that my books one day could do the same for a child who hasn’t felt the power of the hook, yet.
Why read you ask, because it’s simple, it can change your life!
Marisette Burgess is available for book events, guest speaking, and author interviews.
To contact Marisette go to
Marisetteburgess.com
Or
[email protected]
Table of Contents
Prologue
1. Kasey’s Host Family
2. Kasey’s Hostile Beginnings
3. Dion’s Mini Cooper
4. Kasey and the Villagers
5. Kasey’s Family
6. Kasey and the Gladiators
7. Dion A Monster or A Knight
8. Kasey and Destiny
9. Kasey and the Mermaid
10. Kasey and the Brothers
11. Kasey and Hercules
12. Dion’s Innocence
13. Kasey’s Gifts
14. Dion’s Plea
15. Kasey It’s Time
16. Kasey and the Fire Jumping
17. Dion vs. Sam
18. Kasey’s Spanish Christmas
Men of the Cave (Symbol of Hope Series) Page 19