Normal Secrets - An Excerpt from a Book by Walter F. Kern By Walter F. Kern My Fifth Book has been Released in Paperback and Kindle Editions. Here is an Excerpt: . . . I remember one more time when I was in junior high. I came home from school and found Mom distraught and rambling incoherently in the dining room. This was a frightening incident for me. I felt powerless to help my mother who was in obvious distress. It was a sight I have never been able to get out of my mind. When Dad came home from work, he spoke with Mom for a while trying to assess the situation. In a day or two, Mom was readmitted to Peoria State Hospital. While Mom was in Peoria this time, I had an opportunity to go with Uncle Hardy, Aunt Nellie, and their children (my cousins) for a day at Lake Bloomington, about 20 miles from our house. Hardy was very talkative and boisterous. You could hear him a long way off. Dad wasn't interested in going to the Lake. I think I was the only Kern kid that went. (Lake Bloomington was the water supply for Bloomington. It was also a recreational area for swimming, boating, and fishing. The Lake was surrounded by homes that were owned by companies and individuals.) I'm not sure why I went on this excursion. I was not a swimmer. I didn't boat. I didn't fish. I guess I was there just to get away from Normal for a day and get some sun. It was hot, and I had swim trunks on. I remember my cousins getting in the water and wading out a bit. I thought I would try that, too, so I followed them. Hardy and Aunt Nellie stayed sitting on the sand. Suddenly I felt the ground go out from under me. Down I went! There must have been a drop-off, and it got me. I went straight down and I was flailing around trying to get back up to the surface. I could see a circular well-lit section of the water's surface above me. It was the sun beaming down a message that I was in trouble, and something had better happen quickly if I were ever to see the sun again. Then everything went dark . . . Check out Normal Secrets on Amazon by clicking the book cover, above.Read excerpts from my other books. |
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© 2017 Walter F. Kern. All rights reserved.
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