Promise Me

Promise Me

by Cherol Martin
Promise Me

Promise Me

by Cherol Martin

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Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781449020415
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Publication date: 03/23/2010
Pages: 84
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.20(d)

Read an Excerpt

Promise Me


By Cherol Martin

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Cherol Martin
All right reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4490-2041-5


Chapter One

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The wind blew fresh with the smell of spring flowers in the air, the sound of birds chirping, and the laughter of children playing. The noise of traffic was heard throughout the neighborhood, for the warmth of spring had finally arrived.

Sharay, Stephanie, and Marcie played double Dutch jump rope in front of Sharay's mother's house. The girls happily laughed as Stephanie and Marcie turned each rope for Sharay's turn to jump.

"Come on, Sharay, jump," the two girls yelled.

"Wait now," Sharay giggled, rocking back and forth and getting into position to jump into the ropes. Sharay watched carefully as the ropes whistled with a whirlwind sound through the air and struck the ground with the smack of a whip.

"I can get it this time," she told herself. Marcie and Stephanie turned the ropes faster and faster. Sharay took an ultimate chance and jumped into the whipping ropes. I'm going to make it, she thought hopefully. "I got it!" Sharay screamed, landing on both feet. "This rope has nothing on me," she sang, jumping, turning, and not missing one beat of the double-turning ropes. "Cause I'm as bad as Mohammed Ali."

"Sharay," Sharay's mother called softly, stepping out onto the front porch. "It's time for your lessons."

"Okay, Mama," Sharay answered, slowing down her jump as the girls slowed down the jump ropes. "I have to go," she told her friends while she wrapped the synthetic cloth around her soft-skinned hand. "Okay, Mama," Sharay answered, running up the porch steps of her Youngstown, Ohio home. "I'll see you later," she said, waving goodbye to her friends.

Sharay was a bubbly eight-year-old. She was to be lead singer for the junior choir on the following Sunday, something she had done since she could remember.

"I love you, Mama," Sharay said, looking up to her and holding her with one arm wrapped around her waist as they walked into the house.

"I love you too, Sharay, so much," her mother answered, kissing Sharay softly as they entered the dining room.

Sharay's mother sat down to the piano stool and instructed Sharay to breath. Sharay began to take deep breaths in and out as she twisted one of her four ponytails back together.

The closeness between Sharay and her mother could be felt throughout the room. Sharay, a brown-skinned angel, had a unique way of quieting a room with the tender melody of her voice. Sarah, Sharay's mother, continued to play each tune as she waited for Sharay to take a swallow of lemonade and position herself for rehearsal. Sarah gently nodded her head, and Sharay began to sing.

The sweet, mellow sound, coming from a small child, was astonishing to hear. Sarah, wanting Sharay to be in tune with each note, gave her child key points on how to lift her voice with strength and power, allowing the depth of breath to open up into an orchestra of song; she also taught her how to bring her voice down into a smooth tone, revealing precious tunes and harmonies.

While Sharay and her mother were rehearsing, the doorbell rang. Sharay hastily ran toward the front door.

"Sharay!" her mother called, taking larger steps than her daughter and trying to reach the door before she did. Sarah caught Sharay by the arm and reminded her of how dangerous it is for her to expose herself to possible harm.

"May I help you?" Sarah asked, running her finger over the chrome steel door knob, making sure that the door was locked.

"Well ... yes," a man outside answered nervously, in a deep, scratchy voice. "I was looking for the Turner's place," he continued, removing his hat from his head.

"This is the Turners'," she replied, interrupting his sentence. "Oh—I'm sorry, how may I help you?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I just got into town, and I was trying to land myself a job at one of these big steel mills you got here, and, well ... I was told you served good room and board."

"Oh, yes. Why thank you. Please forgive my manners; we were right in the middle of practice. Please come in."

"Yes, Ma'am, I'd be glad to," he answered, lifting up his worn dusty suitcase and wobbling from the weight of it. "I heard your singing when I first walked up the porch stairs; your voices are beautiful."

Sarah smiled, acknowledging his compliment. Sarah spoke as she guided the gentlemen toward the dining room. "Times are changing, and I'm trying to teach my daughter well, you know."

"Yes, Ma'am, I do, we have to be very careful these days."

Sarah turned to her daughter. "Sharay, I want you to go outside, but first could you please ask Mrs. Peters to come here?"

Mrs. Peters, one of Sarah's eldest workers, had worked for the Turner family for many years; she took care of making beds, helping with dinner, and some other different duties around the house that helped Sarah greatly. But in Sarah's eyes, she was more of a friend.

"You may rest your things here, sir," Sarah spoke, turning to the gentleman and extending her hand so they could kindly introduce themselves.

"Darin," he replied to her gesture, quickly wiping the sweat from the palm of his hands, "Darin Perez."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Darin. My name is Sarah, Sarah Turner," she said, pulling her hand out of his.

"Nice to meet you as well," he respectfully replied.

Mrs. Peters entered the room and escorted their new houseguest to his quarters. After dinner and tucking Sharay into bed, Sarah quietly relaxed in the spare bedroom and thought of her husband, Mitch. I'll be glad to see you, Mitch, she thought while sipping on a cold glass of lemonade.

"Big Turner Mitch" was what many of the townspeople called him. Mitch Turner, a successful businessman, had diligently worked his business into a prosperous company called "Turn It Up Productions." Previous contracts and engagements had benefited the family enormously; to the top they had made it, and at the top was where they were going to stay. Mitch always had to travel from one state to another, looking for talent, which was something he was good at. However, the hard work had put a series of time spans between Mr. Turner and his wife. This was not new to Sarah, for this is how she met her husband of eight years. Sadly, the lonely days and nights were starting to take their toll. Mitch had recently called stating that there was a good possibility he would be home sometime this week.

I hope so, Mitch. How long can I continue to stay alone?

To pass much of the time, Sarah had opened their spacious home as a west-end hotel for whoever needed a place to stay. The Lord had truly blessed this family.

The next morning was as beautiful as the day before. The sun shone brightly into the home of the Turner family. Sarah walked down their long hallway with slippers and a housecoat on, holding her forehead and trying to wake up.

"Time to get up," Sarah stated, waking Sharay for church.

"Oh, Mama," Sharay mumbled inside her covers.

"Come on, Sharay," she said strengthening her tone as she pulled open the curtains. "We must be on time. How did you sleep, my beautiful princess?"

"Very well, thank you, my lovely queen," Sharay answered.

"Well ... let's get moving, baby; we don't want to be late."

"Okay, Mama," Sharay moaned.

"I'll see you downstairs." Sarah stood at the bedroom doorway.

"Okay, Mama," Sharay mumbled from under her sheets. "I'm getting up."

Sarah disappeared down the hallway to begin to get things ready for the day.

Sharay, not wanting to disappoint her mother, got up and began to get her things ready for church. Oh I forgot to tell Mama about my dream, she thought to herself.

As Sharay sat at the breakfast table, she began to tell her mother the strange dream she had had the previous night.

"Mama?"

"Yes, Sharay," her mother answered.

"Mama, I had the craziest dream last night. Stephanie, Marcie, and I were all sitting in this long hallway when a voice came to me and said that it had something to show me. But I could not see where this voice came from or who it was that was speaking. Then suddenly I was alone in another room filled with darkness. There was no one there but me, emptiness, and sadness. I could feel the sadness, Mama."

Sarah, who was preparing dinner early because of how busy Sunday always was, stopped preparing the meal and turned to Sharay, puzzled at the distance she could hear in her daughter's voice. She walked over to the kitchen table, pulled out a chair, and sat down so she could understand and comfort her child. Quietly she waited, allowing Sharay to finish telling the story of her dream.

"It was so sad, Mama."

"Are you okay, baby?"

"Yes, Mama, but it was so cold. Then this voice spoke to me, Mama," she began again as if to remember more of her dream. "It said, 'Follow me.' Oh—Mama, I was so scared that I fell upon my face. But a large shadow raised his hand while saying to me, 'Fear not, for I was sent to you; you must learn and understand.' Then I was turned toward the presence of the voice, and there before me were colors. They drifted toward me, pretty shades of blue, pink, red, and yellow; it was like a rainbow, Mama.

"The closer the colors came to me, the more they began to stretch out into long lengths of colorful scarves, and there were people there, Mama, holding the scarves. I began to follow the lengths of the scarves, which the people were holding, and the people danced, oh—how they danced, Mama, and their clothing was as pretty as the scarves."

Sharay got up from the kitchen table and began to act out the dancing, moving her arms from side to side in rhythm to an unheard beat. It was clear that merely remembering the dream had carried her away.

"And we went up and up, Mama. So high, the more I tried to reach the top, the further away the top was from me. I felt so good and free when, all of a sudden, I realized I was on a high cliff; the people around me were there too, stuck, Mama," Sharay began to cry. "They were bound, Mama, with chains on their ankles, crying and moaning to be freed. I screamed, 'Let me go!' But the man appeared to me dressed in deep, fearful black. 'You must pass by,' he said. I just screamed, Mama, and awoke."

"Oh ... Sharay," her mother said, wrapping her arms strongly around her daughter to comfort her. "The Lord will let us know what it means. I know the dream scared you, but there is a reason why."

As Sharay and her mother embraced each other, Mr. Jess Cablow, their favorite houseguest, entered the room.

"Hey! What is going on in here?" Mr. Cablow said. "What cha' trying to do, scare the life out of this child?" he protested, pulling Sharay from Sarah's arms and wrapping one arm around her.

"Let me tell you, child, anybody who bothers you will have to answer to me." He raised his cane with the other arm. "You just tell them that old Jess said to bring it on."

Sharay began a giggle that turned into laughter as Jess raised that old cane of his. Jess was an eighty-eight-year-old man; he was short and had hair everywhere on his body except on his head. He had turned to Sarah after he lost his wife of fifty years.

Sunday morning was full of bustle for everyone. Breakfast and dinner had to be prepared. Sarah had to make sure each guest was cared for until she returned. Days like these made Sarah very thankful for having Mrs. Peters.

The church was unusually full. Many of the women wore their extreme headwear; it looked like a showcase of hats. There were many hats of style. Some of the hats sat high on one's head and others were more of a round shape, with fancy feathers stretching from the tips of their rims. Attention usually fell to people like Mrs. Rogers, a dedicated member of First Baptist Church, who was never late and always kind. Her hats always sat on her head with poise and posture.

As Sharay and her mother entered the church, many of the town's women greeted them, for they were well-known in the church house. The ushers closed the church doors, letting the people know that it was time for silence. Sharay positioned herself to sing her song, with Sarah accompanying her on piano. The choir brought forth a collection of songs that were especially beautiful.

As the choir rested from their singing, Reverend Thomas stood and placed his Bible on the pulpit. "Praise the Lord," he proclaimed, and the congregation immediately responded, "Praise the Lord."

Again Reverend Thomas spoke: "Praise the Lord. Today the Lord has brought my attention to the relationship his people have with him." He paused, placing one hand on the Bible, turning his body toward the choir, and aiming his sight toward those behind him. "You know, the Lord consistently reminds us of the relationship he would like to have with his people, reminds us that he is a living God. He is a God who has heard your prayer and answered your request, a God of mercy, and a God full of judgment. He's our personal, saving God, the one and only Almighty God. If you will please," Rev. Thomas continued, "walk with me through the word of the Lord and turn your pages to Exodus, chapter twenty. We're going to follow the word of God."

The sound of turning pages began to flow through the church house. "Now, in reading this chapter, we find the Lord has opened a portion of his personality to us. He states, 'I, the Lord God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children, unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Now, let's take a moment and meditate on the words of the Lord. It seems the Lord is expressing some notion that he just might be visiting our land, our city. What will he find?" The reverend questioned the congregation, slapping his hand down on the pulpit. "Who is ready to stand before the Lord and his judgment?"

Quickly, the members of the church house realized that the reverend was not speaking to certain members of the church house, but to all who were attending the church house that day. He was telling everyone everywhere that each is accountable for his or her actions. Movement began in the church, and silence quickly became an utterance of grunts and sighs—a recognition that God Almighty was personally speaking to each of them.

"Now it seems," the Reverend concluded, "that the Lord is warning us of a visit from his judgment. Are you ready? We must focus our attention on why the Lord would set this passage in front of us this morning. Uh ... surely it's for a purpose, meaning the Lord wants to talk to his children, settle some things. Maybe we've taken our blessings for granted. Let us reason with the Lord and bring ourselves to be humble and pray for his direction."

You could hear the members whisper while they gathered their belongings. "You know, Kelly," Sarah said, "Reverend really brought forth the message today."

"I know," answered Kelly. "It was a little scary, such a strong message. Well, I'm sorry, Sarah, but I really must get home. I have dinner in the oven, and Mark's parents are coming over for dinner. Call me." She threw her hand up as she walked away.

"Oh, that's all right, Kelly, I have quite a bit to do myself," Sarah said, fumbling with her purse. "Sharay," Sarah called. "Let's go, honey."

Sarah was dressed in a slender, olive green dress with matching shoes, hat, and gloves.

There was no question where Sharay's beauty came from.

"Sharay," Stephanie called, catching up to her.

"Can I, Mama?"

"Yes, baby." Sarah already knew Sharay wanted to go and play. "But make sure you change your clothes first."

"Yes, Mama; come on, Stephanie."

Sarah smiled, pulling her hat off and allowing the wind to blow through her long, bouncy hair. As Sarah continued to walk home, she watched the lovers across the street and it reminded her of her good days with Mitch; her thoughts drifted in the past. May I have this dance? she pictured Mitch asking her. Sarah softly glided across the floor. Is this what you're looking for? she had said, letting her sensual body flow into his waiting arms. How long will I have to wait, Sarah? he had asked as they continued dancing; I'm hungry for you now. Sarah could see him leaning forward passionately, kissing her.

"You shouldn't swing it like that, lady!" some young boys yelled as they drove by, shaking Sarah out of her thoughts.

"Mama, Mama!" Sharay yelled, running to her mother. Sarah fearfully ran toward her daughter.

"Mama, Daddy's home."

The expression on Sarah's face changed as she looked up toward their house.

"Okay, baby," she said, giving a sigh of relief. "You just go with Stephanie and play, and don't you ever scare me like that again." As she walked up the porch stairs, she was still shaken up from Sharay's cry.

(Continues...)



Excerpted from Promise Me by Cherol Martin Copyright © 2010 by Cherol Martin. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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