It's A Marshmallow World: A Rock and Roll Fantasy (The Rock And Roll Fantasy Collection)

by Diane Rinella

  “For what?” It’s been weeks since our do-over date, and while we are, obviously, both glad that I gave him another chance, that was hardly gift worthy.

  “For being who you are.” He cups my cheeks with his hands, and everything about the moment—his tender yet insistent touch, the earnestness in his eyes, and the conviction in his voice—drives home a new reality. In a very short period of time, this man stopped flailing and found strength. How much it moves me shows in the water welling in my eyes. “When I’m with you,” he says, “I don’t think about who I am supposed to be, I just exist. I’ve found my relationship with myself. Now I need to find it with whoever is driving us all. That is why I am not at the airport.”

  All other amazing things aside, I’m so honored to be a part of his growth. Thank God GranGran intervened.

  He brushes away my tears with his thumbs before kissing my forehead. “Go on. Open it,” he whispers.

  My emotions have me so dazed that all I can think to do is stare at the box and marvel at the gift I’ve been given—the gift of helping someone else find his way.

  “Go on.” He nudges my arm and winks. “I’m betting that you are someone who loves to rip into paper.”

  He already knows me so well that I am forced back into the moment. “Damn right I am.” I start digging in.

  Excitement rings in his voice like he is the one blessed with unexpected joy. “I found it on accident. I heard there was some stuff for the Vespa in an antique shop up the coast. That was a bust, but I did find this.”

  I open the box, and my hand flies to my mouth to cover my gasp. It’s a pin—one that is the perfect match to the hair clips GranGran gave me. They could have been made from the same mold.

  Oh, GranGran, I miss you so much. Though you are so far away, you are always right next to me. Chris finding this is your way of showing me that all is going exactly as it should. “Thank you,” I utter to Chris while also holding GranGran in my heart.

  His eyes lock into mine. “No, thank you for giving me that do-over. It kick started my life. Darla, I’d like to think I know what the future holds for us, but that is a fool’s game. What I do know is that every day you give me more clay, more incentive, to shape myself. That is making me whole, and that is exactly how it should be.”

  He wishes me happiness and heads off with the promise of a perfect New Year’s Eve ahead. I truly hope he finds what he is looking for. Something tells me that I have.

  Getting In The Mood (For Christmas)

  The swinging sounds of a big band waft through my parent’s house while I put away the last glass from lunch. In the distance, Dad’s laughter erupts. Ever since GranGran died all those years ago, Bailey and I have been on a mission to spice up the day. While we have created new traditions that bring joy, such as her Swing dancing with Dad, we’ve never been able to fill the void that losing GranGran put in our hearts.

  As I pass the family room, I pause to look at the admiration in my father’s eyes for his eldest daughter. The parent/child relationship is always a love story of its own. I hope to have several of those someday. I’m even allowing myself to think that maybe the first one will start sooner than anyone expects, even me. Love happens every day, and now it is finally happening to me.

  Chris was mostly right with his reasoning for no gifts, but he forgot something key: he is a gift to me as well. Chris is a reminder of the wonderful people I have in my life and the support with which they have embraced me. When you are used to something, it is easy to lose sight of its importance.

  Speaking of which, my own tradition is calling me. The most important person in the world waits in my room. She is also in my heart, my spirit, and in a photograph.

  I grab GranGran’s picture from where I set it on my old nightstand. Her eyes fill me with just as much love as if she were here. She will be soon.

  As I head for my suitcase, azure haze slinks in front of me. My body tingles as if the arms of an angel have embraced me.

  “Looking for someone?”

  My breath locks when I turn and set my eyes on GranGran. “How did you get here? I haven’t even pulled the board out of my suitcase.”

  GranGran nudges me to take a seat with her on the bed, just like we always did. “Do you really think a silly, little trinket connects us? Your heart is what holds the secret to being with me. For us, that board is insignificant. However, there is something very important that I need you to do with it.”

  Her eyes lock onto mine. As much as I have always seen her ghost as a person, I’ve also been aware that her image is composed of energy that appears as mist. But now, deep in the recesses of her eyes, I see something more. Is it a reflection? A light? A window into where she now lives? The glow of God?

  Maybe it is my imagination, but for the life of me I sense something different in her voice. Her words are almost too clear, as if someone is speaking them for her. “That special planchette I gave you was the last thing I painted. Please, never let it go. However, the first chance you get, I want you to take that board and the plastic planchette it came with over to Rox. Don’t actually give it to her. Just slip it into the closet along with her board games. She will find it when the time is right. What you have experienced with me may be sweet, but the adventure that awaits her is nothing short of fantastic.”

  Goosebumps coat my skin. Each one holds hope for the dreams of my friend. With GranGran behind the scenes, I can only begin to imagine where life can take us.

  She double pats my knee. “I am so very proud of you. If you ever need me, just wish me here. Even if you don’t see me, I will always be near. Goodbye, darling. I love you, and Merry Christmas.”

  “I love you, too.”

  GranGran’s haze fades without leaving a physical trace. She may be gone from this earth, yet every day she creates beauty here because of the love she left behind. This year, that beauty taught me that Christmas isn’t about opening presents; it is about opening our hearts. For that reason, and for some many others, Christmas itself, just like the love we share, is magic.

  Joy To The World

  Chris is barely inside my door before he sweeps me off my feet and flies me into a spin. His happiness is so powerful that it causes me to laugh with joy. “I sure missed you,” he tells me.

  As much as the newness of this relationship has me feeling the need to keep reality in check, a bigger part of me believes in admitting what I know to be true. “I missed you, too. Did you find what you were looking for?”

  His stare into my eyes isn’t one that sends waves of love through me. Instead, I sense him searching inside us both and questioning just how much he is ready to share. I get it. There is so much I want to tell him, but telling anyone about the daisies I follow is a long way off. I won’t blame him in the least if he doesn’t utter a word about his time away.

  “Yeah,” he says, setting me down. “I did find it. I’m not going to share it with people either, for reasons that will become obvious, but I’ll show you.”

  “Please don’t feel you need to explain anything about yourself to me.”

  “I don’t, but I like you being in my life. I hope that someday you will see this anyway, but I’d rather just come out with it. With what I am learning about myself, being around me is tricky enough. If you can understand what I did then … Well, let me just show you.” He removes his leather jacket. “This is going to be weird.”

  My heart skips a little. I like him being in my life, too. Did he really feel the need to warn me, of all people, about something being weird? What could he—

  Chris unbuttons his shirt and pulls it open at the chest. I can’t help but let my eyes wander to every exposed piece of flesh. Dear lord of all that is firm and carved by heaven! I suspected it was decent under there but …

  Did the heater just come on? I could swear I turned it off.

  Wait, what’s up with the bandage over his heart?

  As Chris pulls away the tape, the fact that he got a tattoo becomes apparent.
It looks like an outline of a cross but … Did someone drag an unloaded tattoo gun across him?

  I step closer and see that the outline was done in white. Since it is still red around the edges, it doesn’t look so much like a tattoo, but more like a brand from an iron that had only been warmed.

  “I warned you that it was weird,” he says.

  “A cross isn’t weird, but why so faint?”

  “My wack job family got one thing right. They taught me to believe in something greater than myself. However, they would have gotten through to me a lot more if they had not shoved their beliefs down my throat. God wants us to be humble. Is telling someone that if he gets a tattoo, he will burn in hell, humble? No, it is saying you think you are better than they are because of your choices. I can’t see how God would want that.”

  “So, you got a tattoo to show your family you know your own mind. Why is it so faint and put where they won’t see it?” He starts to button his shirt. My eyes wish he wouldn’t, but my mind is being held captive by his words.

  “Faith is personal. I am the only one who needs to know that a mark of any kind is on my body. That cross is a part of me now, just like my faith always has been. If and when I decide there is something else I want on my body for the rest of my life, I’ll have it put on how and where I feel it is best.”

  Chris takes back his jacket and puts it on before reaching to the sofa for my coat.

  “So, do you think I wussed out?” he asks.

  I snicker at my own memories of becoming self-aware. “No. I think you dyed your hair. On the way to Mulligan’s, I’ll tell you the story of the Christmas when Bailey bought me my first real makeup, and how it led to my glorious mane.”

  He runs his fingers through my hair. Though his look of admiration is aimed at my locks, the simple gesture steals my breath. He might as well be whisking me off to Heaven. “I love this about you. Why doesn’t it surprise me that it wasn’t done on a whim?”

  God, that word. That big, scary, four-letter word that he used so freely regarding who I am. He doesn’t weigh his thoughts nor does he measure his words, and that is one of the things that I love about him. “Everything that reflects who we are has a story behind it.” Someday I hope to tell him the full version, but for now, I’ll stick to the basics.

  We head out to meet our friends, but not before detouring by Rox and Jacqueline’s place. With the aid of the key they gave me for emergencies, I let myself inside, head down the hall to the family room, and open the closet door. The smell of musty records tickles my nose, but how that aroma is a fine bouquet to my comrade in quirks warms my heart.

  “Rox, you and your affair with music is a grand love story all its own. Sonnets could be written about it.”

  I barely manage to slip Ouija between Monopoly and Risk. She’ll probably think it is the same board we used at slumber parties when we were kids. Funny how it blends in as if it were just another game, yet it is anything but that. Then again, GranGran said I never truly needed it, so maybe it is just a game after all.

  Faith is a funny thing. It makes what seems impossible real.

  Goosebumps rise as I kiss my fingertips and touch them to the box one last time. How painful it is to say goodbye to cardboard surprises me; however, I find joy in knowing I will keep GranGran’s love in my heart forever.

  “Happy New Year, GranGran. I love you.”

  The slightest tingle floats across me, as if I am being smiled upon. Tears fill my eyes, because even though I don’t hear her saying it, I know GranGran is telling me she loves me too. I blow a kiss toward Heaven before leaving the board behind.

  Chris and I head off to Mulligan’s, the place where we gather with friends and celebrate life. It is not the place that counts; it is the love everyone brings there.

  Discover the future of the Ouija board with Rox, Jacqueline, and Darla in the novel Scary Modsters … and Creepy Freaks. Learn more about Jacqueline in the novella, Queen Midas In Reverse. Then follow Darla and Bailey into the novel, Voices Carry, followed by Bailey’s story in Moonlight Serenade. These are all a part of The Rock and Roll Fantasy Collection. The novels revolve around characters whose deep-seated love of music is a driving force of the story, while the novellas focus on the supporting characters you can't help but love.

  Play List

  *Playlists for all of the Rock and Roll Fantasy stories can be found on my YouTube Channel.

  “Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers” - The Crystals

  “Christmas Wrapping” - The Waitresses

  “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” - Mack Rice

  “Christmas Bop” - T. Rex

  “Someday At Christmas” - Jackson Five

  “It’s A Marshmallow World” - Darlene Love

  “Super Sunny Christmas” - Redd Kross

  “Getting In The Mood (For Christmas)” - Brian Setzler Orchestra

  “Joy To The World” - Chuck Negron

  To My Readers

  Thank you for spending your time with my beloved characters and joining our family. Time is precious, and I certainly appreciate yours.

  I love hearing from readers. Please let me know who you are by connecting with me on social media.

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  Want to hear about upcoming releases? Join Diane’s mailing list. Newsletters are only sent to announce releases and special events.

  If you have an additional moment, please leave a review at one of the places you discover books. Information regarding other books in my collection can be found in the next few pages. Ebooks are available at most major retailers. Audio versions of my titles can be found on Amazon. To purchase signed paperbacks, please visit my Etsy Store.

  Again, thank you for joining us on this journey!

  Diane

  The Rock and Roll Fantasy Collection

  "Diane paints her story in wild strokes of Day-Glo orange and red and makes sure to leave a bit of her characters etched on your heart - and in your soul..." - Agents of Romance

  Scary Modsters … and Creepy Freaks

  A fantastical romance involving a woman, the music that fuels her, and her Ouija board.

  Rosalyn seeks acceptance, but is always ridiculed for her eclectic wardrobe and unconventional music collection. One fateful night, Rosalyn bewitches Niles, a stylish man whose quirky character is the perfect complement to her own. Unfortunately, Niles has a secret flaw that always ensures relationship suicide—and he can’t hide it much longer.

  During a tango with a Ouija board, Rosalyn summons the ghost of Rock and Roll deity Peter Lane. Peter entices Niles with the key to saving his relationship with Rosalyn. When Niles hears the price is avenging Peter’s murder, how far will he go to secure Rosalyn’s heart?

  Scary Modsters is a standalone novel in The Rock and Roll Fantasy Collection, a mystical world where rock and roll will save your soul.

  Although the books can be read in any order, the collection begins with It's A Marshmallow World before moving on to Scary Modsters ... and Creepy Freaks, Queen Midas In Reverse, Voices Carry, and Moonlight Serenade.

  Buy on Amazon

  Also in audio format!

  The Rock and Roll Fantasy Collection

  Queen Midas In Reverse

  For Jacqueline, a second date is as rare as a unicorn. She’s beautiful. She’s intelligent. So why is she experiencing a string of first dates that leaves her ducking behind bushes and running for buses? Contrary to her nature, trading in her heels and curling iron for an easy chair surrounded by cats sounds appealing. Is she cursed, or can she find the man who will steal her heart?

  Queen Midas In Reverse is a standalone novella that takes place in the Rock and Roll Fantasy universe, alongside Scary Modsters and its prequel, It’s A Marshmallow World.

  Buy on Amazon

  Also in audio format!

  The Rock and Roll Fantasy Collection

  Voices Carry

  An incredible romance involving a man, t
he music he craves, and the voice that haunts him.

  Rock and roll turns Brandon Wayne into a juvenile delinquent in all the best ways—crazed, ambitious, and with a slip of danger nagging at his hips. His marketing job at Endeara Candies and hunting down classic vinyl nirvana at Warped Records make his world seem ordinary, but there is another side to his life.

  As an anniversary of tragedy approaches, odd occurrences riddle Brandon’s mind with questions. Whose voice is suddenly materializing in his head? Is he fabricating a psychic who looks like one of his favorite rock stars? Why is he having retro dreams involving welded beer cans, disco, and a punk rock girl? The puzzle seems never ending.

  Have the musty fumes at Warped Records and the terrible candy at work rotted Brandon’s brain? Has he crossed into the realm of insanity? Or is the reason for the madness beyond his comprehension?

  Voices Carry is a standalone novel that takes place in the Rock and Roll Fantasy universe, alongside Scary Modsters and its prequel, It’s A Marshmallow World.

  Buy on Amazon

  The Rock and Roll Fantasy Collection

  Moonlight Serenade