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CrossReads Short Takes

OPAL: Spirit of a Woman

by Kevin Heaton

ON THE DAY SHE WAS BORN, FATE HAD ALREADY DETERMINED HER DESTINY.
A DESTINY FRAUGHT WITH ABANDONMENT, WANT, SERVITUDE, AND REWARD.

SOLD INTO CHILDHOOD SLAVERY BY HER OWN FATHER – SHE REACHED DEEP INSIDE HER SOUL AND FOUND A WELL OF : STRENGTH, GRIT, FAITH, AND RAW PERSEVERANCE.

“OPAL: Spirit of a Woman” is the story of Mary Opal Fetters/George; a courageous woman who lost her mother to childbirth at the tender age of seven, was sold into bondage by a father who no longer wished to care for her…and forced into child labor in another state for many years. In spite of all the odds stacked against her—she championed a legacy of grace. This is her story.

Her eyes were set deeply into the granite-like constitution of her gaze. Not a cold-hearted stare, but translucent; like the serene look of a farm pond at dusk. And, although her shoulders were slightly bent from plain old fashioned hard work, it wasn’t an arthritic stoop – more like the resolute position she’d assumed throughout her lifetime to guarantee her own survival.

You see, this was still “The Great Depression,” and the screen door her family was shivering and sweltering behind was that same old door attached to the same old “Sharecropper Shanty” they’d started out in. But for Opal, the decision to head to California during those difficult days or stay and ‘tough things out,’ was what we call nowadays: ‘a no-brainer.’ Some refer to it as ‘frontier spirit,’ or ‘the will to go on.’ Whatever you choose to label it; in her case—those principles were simply the foundation on which she chose to live out her life. Then, after having whisked away all those “Dust Bowl” gales – she began to pay all that survivor’s grit forward. Time after time through the years; into decades – she answered the call to serve others. Never mind their beliefs or their station in life, so long as the end result was to benefit those who were suffering the most.

Love Unfeigned

(For Every Love Book 1)

by Nadine C. Keels

For Every Love, Book One: a “just kisses” second chance romance

There’s homesickness in his kiss…
Back when Lorraine and Isaiah were children, the competitive spark and warm regard between them grew into a strong bond. But they’ve been traversing divided paths in the years since, and a disastrous experience has resulted in life-altering trauma for one of them.

Now that Lorraine and Isaiah have reached adulthood, what might it take to reunite them in a love unbounded by time?