Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

The story…must be a conflict, and specifically, a conflict between the forces of good and evil within a single person.

– Maxwell Anderson

Bast Overture is still missing. His fraternal twin and PI partner Dana Bowman is determined to find him. She has decided to interview everyone Bast interviewed from some of the short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, Oct. 2012).

Dana has spent a horrible Christmas Day in the dark – widespread power outages caused by an ice storm hit southern Ontario early morning December 22. Thurston, Ontario just north of Toronto where Dana and her son David live got hit and power wasn’t restored there until 8 p.m. Christmas Day. She and David also spent a bleak Christmas without her fraternal twin, Bast Overture who has been missing since Halloween.

Today, Boxing Day, she is back in the library boardroom. After David drew a dark picture of the inside of the room and Bast’s head – drawn kid style but she can’t mistake the red hair and beard – in that abstract picture on the wall, and David’s continual pointing at the picture, Dana has no choice. She calls her friend, Sara, the head librarian, and Sara lets them into the boardroom, where they now sit.

Dana: David, I wish you could tell me what you mean by that picture.

David continues to point at his drawing and then at the abstract on the far wall.

Dana: I can see anything but the abstract – the lines, squares, colours. Nothing. What do you mean?

David continues pointing at his picture and the abstract. Dana looks back and forth between the two.

Dana: David, I can’t see anything on the painting on the wall. What do you see?

David starts nodding his head frantically and pointing back and forth.

Dana: Still nothing.

David grabs Dana’s hand and lifts it up so her fingers are pointing forward towards the painting on the wall.

Dana, shaking her head and looking straight ahead, then down at David’s painting: Still nothing, son. Sorry.

The lights suddenly go out.

Dana: Shit, not again. Sorry David.

Dana feels David gripping her hand harder. She looks up and across at the painting.

The abstract painting lights up in the dark and Bast’s face suddenly appears to be coming from the painting.

Dana:  Bast? Is that you? Are you there?

The lights come back on. Dana continues to look at the painting on the far wall. It is only an abstract.

Happy New Year to all and hope 2014 is much better for all than crappy 2013 was and is.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including book reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.