The Butterfly Box_A SASS Anthology Read online

  Table of Contents

  Story Blurbs

  Copyright Information

  Acknowledgements

  Lovelock Ones: Native One by Tricia Copeland

  Chapter 1 - Native One

  Chapter 2 - Native One

  Chapter 3 - Native One

  Chapter 4 - Native One

  Chapter 5 - Native One

  Chapter 6 - Native One

  Chapter 7 - Native One

  Chapter 8 - Native One

  Chapter 9 - Native One

  After the Noise Dies by Rebecca M. Gibson

  PERCY 1 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 2 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 3 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 4 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 5 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 6 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 7 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 8 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 9 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 10 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 11 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 12 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 13 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 14 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 15 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 16 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 17 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 18 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 19 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 20 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 21 - After the Noise Dies

  IDA 22 - After the Noise Dies

  PERCY 23 - After the Noise Dies

  Heart Of Life by Eleanor Lloyd-Jones

  Chapter 1 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 2 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 3 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 4 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 5 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 6 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 7 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 8 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 9 - Heart of Life

  Chapter 10 - Heart of Life

  A Second Chance by Brooke May

  Prologue - A Second Chance

  Chapter 1 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 2 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 3 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 4 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 5 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 6 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 7 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 8 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 9 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 10 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 11 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 12 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 13 - A Second Chance

  Chapter 14 - A Second Chance

  Epilogue - A Second Chance

  Returning Home by Riann C. Miller

  Chapter 1 - Returning Home

  Chapter 2 - Returning Home

  Chapter 3 - Returning Home

  Chapter 4 - Returning Home

  Chapter 5 - Returning Home

  Chapter 6 - Returning Home

  Chapter 7 - Returning Home

  Chapter 8 - Returning Home

  Chapter 9 - Returning Home

  Chapter 10 - Returning Home

  Chapter 11 - Returning Home

  Chapter 12 - Returning Home

  Chapter 13 - Returning Home

  Chapter 14 - Returning Home

  Chapter 15 - Returning Home

  Chapter 16 - Returning Home

  Half Full by Kate Vine

  Chapter 1 - Half Full

  Chapter 2 - Half Full

  Chapter 3 - Half Full

  Chapter 4 - Half Full

  Chapter 5 - Half Full

  Chapter 6 - Half Full

  Chapter 7 - Half Full

  Chapter 8 - Half Full

  Chapter 9 - Half Full

  Chapter 10 - Half Full

  Chapter 11 - Half Full

  Chapter 12 - Half Full

  Chapter 13 - Half Full

  Chapter 14 - Half Full

  Chapter 15 - Half Full

  Chapter 16 - Half Full

  Chapter 17 - Half Full

  Chapter 18 - Half Full

  Chapter 19 - Half Full

  The Heart of Him by Katie Fox

  Chapter 1 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 2 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 3 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 4 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 5 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 6 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 7 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 8 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 9 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 10 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 11 - The Heart of Him

  Chapter 12 - The Heart of Him

  Epilogue - The Heart of Him

  Unbreakable by K. M. Neuhold

  Chapter 1 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 2 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 3 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 4 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 5 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 6 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 7 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 8 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 9 - Unbreakable

  Chapter 10 - Unbreakable

  Epilogue - Unbreakable

  About the authors in this anthology

  The Butterfly Box

  stories of healing

  Lovelock Ones: Native One

  by Tricia Copeland

  Despite unparalleled global warming and mandatory genetic typing, Jema and Troy’s high school experience in Port Orford, Oregon seems decent enough. But as a second worldwide flu epidemic threatens, their parents send them to a remote Nevada community. Lovelock is an ancient cave a group has transformed into a base camp. With Jema’s sister’s life in the balance, she and Troy must decide whether to risk exposing the group to save her. Will they jeopardize many for one? Find out in Native One, a young adult novella by Tricia Copeland.

  After the Noise Dies

  by Rebecca M. Gibson

  “They turn off the lights with a click. I’m plunged back into darkness, back into hell.”

  Percy is a lieutenant in The Great War. After an evening attack, that leads to his hospitalisation, his reality begins to crumble. Believing himself captured by the Germans, he has but one hope...if only he can remember her face.

  Ida waits in terror for news of her husband. Not long married, she feels lost without him. When the dreaded telegram arrives, she knows she will do absolutely anything to get him back. This is, if he’ll let her...

  Heart of Life

  by Eleanor Lloyd-Jones

  Trust no one.

  Stick together.

  Do it your way.

  A life of hardships is an endless road for Jess, but with her soul mate by her side, anything is doable; everything is within reach.

  Until tragedy strikes...

  And when tragedy strikes, it leaves an unsettled feeling in its wake—a feeling that nothing will ever be quite the same again.

  A Second Chance

  by Brooke May

  Derek:

  Life isn’t all sunshine and love like they tell you when you are a child. Life is about pain, especially mine. I live mine with a daily reminder of the fact that I didn’t fight for the woman I love... I didn’t go after her when I wanted to.

  My heart is wrecked, my chest in a vice, and yet I am somehow supposed to keep going, to live with it...

  So day after day, I live with it, until Annabelle walks back into my life, and she is as beautiful as I remember.

  Annabelle:

  Free is how I have lived since I left Fetterman.

  I try my best to ignore the pai
n of my past, but my mind always turns back to him and all the questions I have. I am stubborn, I’m well aware of that, and I’ve never been able to bring myself to go back there until now.

  The man who is supposed to be my father is ill and I have business to do with him.

  I don’t expect to see him, Derek.

  I don’t expect him to be even more handsome than ever... angrier than ever.

  I don’t know what I expect, and I certainly don’t expect a second chance...

  Returning Home

  by Riann C. Miller

  You don’t meet the love of your life when you’re just a kid.

  Samantha

  I lost count of the times I was told to move on. To get over the boy who stole a piece of my heart and kept it with him long after he unexpectedly left town. You can’t force someone to love you and it’s impossible to love enough for two, but I tried.

  My life moved forward. My heartache slowly lessened. My reasons for living evolved but my heart never forgot. That’s why when Luke Runyan finally returned home, he turned my life upside down.

  Luke

  My world revolved around her. I would do anything to make my girl happy, that included setting her free.

  Without my permission, life marched on but when I closed my eyes at night, she was always the first to greet me. I should have known that returning home would wreak havoc on my life and I should have known even one glance in her direction would make leaving without her a second time practically impossible.

  The Heart of Him

  by Katie Fox

  One day. One hour. One second.

  That’s all it takes for everything to change...

  Cassidy Porter is barely holding it together. She lives everyday of her life with a heavy weight on her chest, searching for that one moment when she can catch her breath and not feel the pain that serves as a constant reminder of all that she’s lost.

  Until him…

  Samuel Copeland spends his days in the local coffee shop, watching and observing, trying to make sense of his life and the second chance he’s suddenly been given. He doesn’t know how to move forward or where to begin.

  Until her...

  Brought together by fate, or perhaps—more simply—the hearts beating within their chests, the two form an unexpected bond, one that has them asking: can two hearts be destined only to beat for each other?”

  Unbreakable

  by K. M. Neuhold

  Amie:

  My life was perfect. Perfect fiancé, dream job working as a veterinarian at a local zoo, and crazy awesome friends. And then I got sick. The diagnosis was a complete shock, too much of a shock for my fiancé. Now I’m trying to get my feet back underneath me and figure out what to do now that my time is running out.

  Parker:

  After years of crushing on my gorgeous, unavailable neighbor she’s finally single and I’m not about to miss my shot with her. The only problem is, something is going on with her. For some reason she’s spiraling out of control and I have every intention of being there to catch her when she hits bottom. She may think she’s alone in whatever she’s going through, but she wasn’t expecting me.

  Copyright Information

  The Butterfly Box

  A SASS-Author Anthology

  Copyright © 2016 S.A.S.S.

  First Digital Edition

  Printed in the United States of America

  Lovelock Ones: Native One

  Copyright © 2016 Tricia Copeland

  After the Noise Dies

  Copyright © 2016 Rebecca M. Gibson

  Heart of Life

  Copyright © 2016 Eleanor Lloyd-Jones

  A Second Chance

  Copyright © 2016 Brooke May

  Returning Home

  Copyright © 2016 Riann C. Miller

  Half Full

  Copyright © 2016 Kate Vine

  The Heart of Him

  Copyright © 2016 Katie Fox

  Unbreakable

  Copyright © 2016 K. M. Neuhold

  All rights reserved by the respective authors.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  These are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. The authors acknowledge the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products, bands, and/ or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by fines and federal imprisonment.

  Acknowledgements

  Welcome to you, our readers, to the first Struggling Author Street-team Service (S.A.S.S) Anthology. We are so glad you are helping us to support the good work being done by our nominated charity, Medecins sans Frontiers. Medecins sans Fronteirs are an international charity providing emergency medical aid in war zones, areas hit by natural disaster and areas affected by epidemics. They are neutral and impartial and simply want to save lives in often dangerous and shocking circumstances. They can only continue this work through the charitable donations they receive, so thank you again for donating to this very worthwhile cause.

  This anthology would not have been possible if it weren’t for the team within S.A.S.S. Thank you firstly to our contributing authors, who have given up their time to weave these wonderful stories of healing. Special thanks to contributing author Eleanor Lloyd-Jones for designing our cover and Jo Michaels for putting the stories together and making each page beautiful. We would also not have been able to bring you this anthology without our dedicated group of betas, proofreaders and editors, who all volunteered their time to bring you this reading experience. Rebecca Milhoan, Shannon Godwin, Shantella Huddleston-Benson, Michelle Haines and Scarlett Redd, you forever have our gratitude.

  We hope you enjoy our diverse selection of tales, so please bring some healing into your life and step inside the Butterfly Box

  Stacey, Gaynor, Jo, Kelly and Nicole

  ALMOST EVERY NIGHT at bedtime, Mom repeated the story of how she met Dad. And if she’d forget, my sister reminded her. Nave and I bathed and dressed in clean pajamas before Mom started. Tired of the same tale, my leg bounced on the mattress, waiting for the lines to be finished.

  “Jema, stop. This is better than a princess book.” My sister’s hand slapped into my thigh.

  “Sorry.” Eight years younger than me, she still loved the tale. Mom seemed to cherish telling the story, and I wished I hadn’t grown callus to it. At almost sixteen, I’d rather daydream about how my friends and I were going to spend the last weeks of summer. Still, I forced myself to listen to her words.

  “And my mother, father, and I got on a boat, and we sailed for weeks.” Mom, Kimo was her given name, grew up in China. Her family fled to America to escape the AAL flu that plagued Asia.

  “This is the sad part.” Nave interjected.

  Mom’s eyes filled with tears. “And the happy part. I was just sixteen, but as soon as I looked into his blue eyes, I knew.” My father’s naval unit rescued the people from her sinking ship after a hurricane damaged the boat’s hull.

  Even if I believed in soul mates, I wouldn’t be permitted to choose my husband. At eighteen, they sequenced our DNA and matched us with a list of potentials. One of those potentials could be your mate. These were the edicts created by the Earth Council. But many, like my uncle Owen, never married or planned to have children.

  After the AAL
killed most of the Asian, African, and Latino populations, scientists appointed by the Earth Council investigated how another epidemic might be prevented. The council set out rules for each nation to follow. It was decided that the races should be mixed, so none of the cultures would be vulnerable. DNA typing indicated whether people were immune, or IM, then an IM would be paired to a non-IM to spread the IM genes.

  The Earth Council required the immune or IM citizens to be registered as such. The occupants of the other ships from Asia were groomed and paired to ensure their immunity would be passed along to future generations, as were survivors from Africa and Central America. All over the world, AAL survivors were taken in, supported, and married to appropriate lines. But not my mother. In secret, Dad found a family who agreed to adopt her so she could lead a normal life.

  My family lived on the coast of Oregon, near the southern border of the United North American States (UNAS). What used to be Canada and the United States a generation prior became the UNAS. The country stretched from the Canadian cities of Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Alberta, and Vancouver, in the North to the southern Oregon border, and east to New York. Below this line, the land was so hot and barren that even few animals occupied it.

  The AAL was gone, and the scientist believed we wouldn’t see further heating. The study of history, anthropology, archeology, language, and linguistics had become archaic. How could the old civilization matter when things were so dramatically different? Like the flood in biblical times, the old world had been washed away by AAL and global warming, and we were left to rebuild. Mom and Dad stressed that history was still important, that children should have a well-rounded education. Like me, most believed chemistry, biology, physics, and astronomy held the key to our future.

  I planned to follow in my Uncle’s footsteps. Boys I knew acted stupid for the most part, and I’d hadn’t found one that I even wanted to kiss. There were bigger things to worry about—real world problems that needed our attention, challenges that my generation had to solve. With the AAL, the population of Earth dropped from eight to two billion in two years. Even so, we faced famine. The progression of global warming created deserts of what used to be tropics and swamps of what used to be beaches. Inhabitable and arable land dropped fifty percent in thirty years.