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Authors: Hannah Sullivan

Thunder: The Shadows Are Stirring (Thunder Stories Book 1) (44 page)

BOOK: Thunder: The Shadows Are Stirring (Thunder Stories Book 1)

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I sense someone approaching and twist my head. And smile. Ethan, with an uneven gait, is making his way across the flowered meadow. He’d never said anything about it, but I know from Sam and Jamie how close he’d come to dying. Watching him walk is beyond words. I rise to meet him, a little more reserved now that the emotions inside of me are not as highly strung. He takes my hand with a confident grin and we walk back to the bench.

“Ethan?”

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t know it yesterday, but thank you—for Sam. He told me this morning.”

He flushes. “I did what had to be done. You faced something a lot bigger than an arrow.”

“Yeah, well. I just did what needed to be done, too.”

“I guess that makes us a pair of something.” He grins again and breathes in deeply. “I don’t really know what to do with myself now. You know? Do we go start in on some homework or what? Do some chores for the Ol’ Man?”

I snort. “Right.” Absently, I twist at my necklace. Ethan’s hand reaches out and lifts it from me, his knuckles leaving a trail of heat against my skin.

“It suits you.”

“More than you can ever know.”

He raises an eyebrow. “How so?”

“It was your necklace. Every time I shattered apart, burst into all those little bits, it was your necklace I could focus on to ground me.”

“It’s just a scrap of rock I found as a kid.”

“No. It’s a talisman that was made from the pain and hope of an innocent child. Strong magic. You gave it to me in … friendship.” I stumble over the word. I’d wanted to say “love” but thought he’d misinterpret my meaning. I wouldn’t have meant anything gooey by it, even if a little of that gooey is inside of me. A shadow flickers in his green eyes so quickly I almost miss it, but it makes me believe I’d chosen the wrong word after all. I hasten to finish my explanation. “That gifting of it added to the layers of magic within it.

“I could feel you, Ethan. I felt you in there with me, when I was a million little bits and couldn’t even feel my own body. You were there, calling me back. All I did was listen.”

I watch him closely, to see how he takes it. His eyes are trained on me. Lit with an emotion I can’t read. He releases his hold on the stone, lets it fall back against my skin, warm against my throat.

“Well. It must’ve found its purpose. I think it’s happy to know it has a home. Somewhere it’s wanted, where it can do what it’s meant to do.”

I smile. “It’s a good rock. I’ve grown quite attached to it. We’ve been through a lot together.”

“So—it means something to you?”

“It means something for sure.”

“Then, I’ve got a story for you.”

It’s my turn to raise my eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. So be quiet.” His eyes gleam and his lips turn up and I know I’m in trouble.

“Once upon a time, there was this truly amazing, breathtaking girl.”

I laugh out loud and punch his arm. “Oh, yeah? Just give me her name. I’ll take her down a notch or two!”

I feel light and airy, especially when I hear my brothers’ approaching voices, carried to us by the gentle breeze. I’m not sure if I’m ready for Ethan’s story but, as I watch him throw back his head and see his face open with laughter, I think I definitely could be.

The End

Book Club and Reader’s Guide

1. Early in the book, Olivia, Sam, and Jamie face a life-changing tragedy. How does their upbringing of “positive thinking” help them deal with the situation? Is this plausible? How do you think you would cope if faced with a major loss?

2. If, like Ethan, you were told you have the job of protecting someone with your life, would you be able to accept it? Would it matter what the reason was? How do you think Ethan’s past and personality help him with being able to accept his role?

3.Olivia is the oldest of her siblings. Do you think this helped her accept the responsibility of her role? Knowing what’s at stake, would Gunther have pushed her into accepting it, had she been unwilling? Why or why not?

4. Would it be hard for you to have Gunther’s role? To guide and let go, but not to be able to complete the tasks yourself?

5. Callie says random acts of kindness, even small gestures, spread light and goodness throughout the layers of existence. Have you ever done anything like that for someone else, just because you wanted to? Have you ever benefitted from someone else’s random act of kindness? How did either situation make you feel?

6. Topher places his student in a dangerous situation because he doesn’t think things through. Should he have been forgiven as easily as he was or do you think more consequences should have occurred? Why didn’t Gunther want to let Topher go, even though he was willing to step down? What do we learn about everyone’s characters through their responses at the Circle Time following the safety breech?

7. Ethan says they would never want to completely destroy the full entity of evil, just maim it enough to force it back down to the deepest of Layers. Why not? What would be wrong with a world filled only with goodness?

8. How can light come from dark, goodness from evil? How can a positive be found in a tragedy?

9. Both Sam and Olivia voice their self-doubts. Does this make them weak? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What helps them through, or do they get stuck?

10. “Thunder” isn’t only about layers; it’s about balance. How so? How do the elements of the various Shadow Dwellers (the People of the Hills, Lake, Wind, and Flame) play a role in this?

11. Do you see life as having actual layers to reality and truths, or is it more black and white for you?

12. Do you think someone who is labeled “bad” can ever be changed to “good,” as Gimpy and Guts were? How many acts of kindness or goodness does it take to become classified as “good”? How many times can you make wrong choices or do harmful things before you are classified as “bad”? Does it take more than one time in either case; is it dependent on the magnitude of the act? Who are you more willing to forgive?

13. Towards the end of the book, Greenie suggests that people who do good, do it for selfish reasons— because they have a certain agenda. Does this have any effect on the good deed? If someone does something “good” just because they can gain from it, does the “good” that results from the deed become anything less?

14. Would you be able to sacrifice someone you love in order to save someone else (or a whole world of people)? Would you sacrifice the world to keep your family together? Would you want to sidestep the choice and let someone else take care of it, whatever the repercussions may be?

15. Whom would you like to meet in a land where fairytales and folklore can be real? Do you think they would be how you imagine them? Would you want them to be?

16. At the end of the book, after seeing Ethan, Olivia mentions that now she knows she can begin to find herself. Why? Did she mean that she needed his strength and support to become herself; or is it something more than that? What does he represent to her? Would she have been able to find herself if anything had happened to any of the boys?

Acknowledgements

W
OW!
Just, wow! You are holding in your hands a story that went through
many
hands to get to this point. So, first: I thank you, the wonderful reader, for making it to the end. I sincerely hope you enjoyed your time with these characters. Without you, the words of this book would have died with the final press of my computer keys, reaching no one but my family. Now they can live on within you, a life of their own; a life you have breathed into them!

Secondly, thank you, my dear editors (G’ma B: You’re the best M-I-L ever!), for traveling over these words. Again. And again. And again. I hope I did justice to your suggestions and corrections. Ms. Patty Fewer, editor extraordinaire. What can I say about you? I switched copy on you at the most inopportune times, and you stuck with me! You are the reason Thunder is a smoother read. Any and all remaining grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors are due to my abundant revisions, not to your brilliant eye!

To my family (you’re the best in the west!): This all started because of you. Thank you for asking if I could write an “older version” of the stories we share (that’s a shout out to you, my darling daughter!). You, my children, are my inspiration!

To my hubby: You told me I could do it, even when I was pulling out clumps of hair. You are my hero.

To my mum who gave me Samuel. Your creativity is a gift.

To my amazing cover artist, Jennifer Kibbe Day, for being fearless in the face of a big, beautiful horse. Your work is gorgeous.
www.jkdayphotography.com

To the best women ever, the WorldWiseWriters group, who made Thunder more than I could have ever hoped for. Ro, you are a goddess of joy! Jennelle, Andrea, and Shoshona, your humor and levity got me through many a night of the dreaded “that” and “-ly” words. Thank you for your wisdom and kindness.

To a very amazing boy who reminded me that I “don’t have to be dying to start living.” You gave me the nerve to take the chance. Thank you and your beautiful family.

And, a huge thanks to all the amazing foster parents out there who love their children, just as any other parent.

For information on Big Brothers Big Sisters, look them up on their official website. They’re a great organization.
http://www.bbbs.org

About The Author

H
ANNAH
S
ULLIVAN
, a member of the WorldWiseWriters group, currently lives in Idaho with her husband and children. An avid reader and runner, she decided to try her hand at writing when her daughter asked for a more "grown-up" version of the family Thunder stories. So, doing what any mother would do, she said, "Yes, why not?" And started to write. With some fantastic help and new friendships, a novel was born! "Thunder: The Shadows are Stirring" is her first book. If you enjoyed this story, please visit
www.Amazon.com
and leave a review. It makes it more visible to prospective readers! She'd love to hear from you! Feel free to contact her at
[email protected]
or visit her website at
http://www.thunderstories.com/
.

WorldWiseWriters

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Table of Contents

Transition

Before

After

Chapter One: Over the Edge

Chapter Two: Gunther’s Story

Chapter Three: Circle Time

Chapter Four: Training

Chapter Five: Leadership

Chapter Six: Healing

Chapter Seven: Deconstructing