Chapter 2
Last Moment
There was a light pressure of steel against her forehead. It made her dizzy and nauseous. It was as if the sensation of the coldness of the metal of the gun spread through all the nerves of her body. Like electricity, but chillingly cold.
She realized that sweat was breaking out all over her body. So that is what a cold sweat feels like, she thought.
For a moment, she thought that maybe she could talk him out of it and persuade him to lay down the gun. Then she met his gaze and saw that there was nobody there. Nobody to reason with. Nobody home. Something else had taken over.
It was as if different images from her life passed by, so very quickly. They were random moments, connected only by the feeling of love. Instantaneous thoughts of playing with her mom in their sunny yard, the warmth of an embrace, holding her own children for the first time dashed through her mind in a split second. However, these moments seemed somewhat distant compared to the lifeless, hard eyes in front of her and the cold pressure of the gun.
It was as if that moment lasted for hours. The pressure of the gun, the memories passing by and the cold stare of his eyes.
And then… the explosion! It was like being pushed over by this incredible force and then drowning in a million flittering stars and spots.
And then nothing...
Therefore, "This is the way it feels then, to be dead," she thought, “But if I am dead, how come I am still here to feel it?”
Chapter 3
Wesleyville, Ohio
Wesleyville, Ohio, is a small town of about twenty-thousand. It sits on the banks of the Ohio River. Like so many towns in the rust belt of America, it has been hard hit by the post-industrial age. Things can be fabricated much cheaper in other parts of the world where labor is dirt-cheap and then shipped back to America. The corporation makes more profit, middle class people acquire cheaper goods and the working classes ultimately pay the price. When the steel plant closed thirty years ago, the American Dream closed for most of Wesleyville, too.
The people there desperately want to escape the tragedies of life, but most will fail. Though they hope for a better future, their actions and choices prevent their dreams from becoming reality. It seems poverty and evil repress the people and hold them captive amongst each other. Saddest of all, the city fathers lack the will to do much of anything about anything. Apathy reigns.
Elizabeth Bennington lives among the insignificant people of small town Wesleyville. She has lived here all her life, graduated high school and found one of the decent jobs to support her life. For Wesleyville, this was a success story. A few years out of high school, though, Elizabeth’s life is completely shattered because of an evil that the police and the justice system permit to live freely among the decent folk year after year. Elizabeth could have continued life among the working class poor along the banks of the Ohio River if only she had never met him, the witty, evil one who, even today, roams unrepentantly free among them.
Tony ......She walks across the bar unaware of the other people around. When people recognize her, she half-distractedly answers back with a, “hi.” A friend stops her and asks, “What’s up? How have you been doing?” Elizabeth tells her that she cannot talk right now but later on. Chapter 11 Elizabeth’s Doubts 
Chapter 6
Elizabeth continues to make her way across the bar towards the restrooms where the guy is leaning against a wall. As she approaches closer to him, she notices that he has a chiseled face and black thick wavy hair. He is very attractive.
She is anxious, but confident. She knows that men find her beautiful and she feels great in her new dress. She knows she can approach any man. “I’ll start a conversation with some small talk, and pretend I’m on my way to the restroom,” she thinks to herself.
She notices that he finally has his eyes on her, steadily watching her walk toward his side of the room. He shows no sign of nervousness. That is appealing to her. She likes a man who shows confidence. She begins to smile at him as she approaches him next to the restroom door. She puts her hand on the door to open it; she looks him in his clear hazel eyes and says with a smile, “Hello.”
All morning Elizabeth has been pondering last night’s dinner. She is pleased that it went very well, relieved that her family for the first time likes a man that she is dating. On the other hand, she is still upset that she had to secretly take her children to Betty’s house, go to the restaurant alone and pick them up again alone. As Elizabeth is preparing Derrick’s lunch, these thoughts remain racing through her head. She debates whether or not she should date a man who sometimes seems to show disrespect for her children. Derrick and Marjorie are utmost important to her, and, even though she likes Tony very much, and finds him delightful, her irritation about Tony’s lack of consideration toward her children last night festers her emotions. Elizabeth is perplexed on whether or not to discontinue the relationship. Normally, she could overlook Tony’s odd outbursts and ill manners toward adults, but when it comes to her children, she feels he has crossed the line. Then again, she recalls all the times he has shown her such kindness and sweetness and she cannot forget just how charming he is. She finally decides that she will give him another chance after debating the issue all morning. Nevertheless, she needs to have a talk with him about the situation.
Chapter 14 The Miracle Begins Elizabeth lies on her bedroom floor slowly bleeding from the two holes on the sides her head in the wee hours of the new day. It is dark. There is absolute silence in the air. She is unable to help herself, gurgling through the blood for thin breaths of oxygen. Elizabeth lays on the blood-spattered floor unconscious and scarcely holding onto the strings of life. Numerous hours go by in the night. Yet, her ghost has not left her. She lies there with no hope. In spite of the reality, hope shows up in the person of her little son. Derrick begins to move around in his bed at six in the morning. The sun has started to make its peeking through the perimeters of the window blinds. The sunrays slowly begin to shine more intrusively through the apartment window. They eventually shine through a gap directly into his eyes. He wakes up, moves his head out of the direct light, and stares at the ceiling. He looks around and starts to cry for his mommy. However, mommy does not come. He continues to cry until he awakens baby Marjorie. Then she starts crying too. Gradually, Derrick hushes up and crawls out of his sports car bed. He walks over to Marjorie’s crib, puts his little hand through the wooden railings and taps his baby sister on the face. “Shuuu, baby.” She continues crying and he walks away. Derrick grabs his teddy bear from his bed and walks out of the bedroom and down the hall, holding on to the white walls and slowly turns into his mommy’s bedroom. He peeks inside the room. He sees….. 
