The future is not predestined. The universe is not undisciplined. The events that change history occur because one soul stood up when all others sat down. The seed of greatness is planted in every human being at birth. Many fall on fallow ground and fail to take hold. Some sprout and stand up when happenstance and serendipity find them in the right place at the right time. They seize the moment, but often their deeds are short-lived. Now and then one is nurtured slowly over many years. Through time and hardship, that seed blooms. It grows straight; it grows firm; it grows strong; and a patient universe waits.
A golden hue bathed her in soothing warm light. The light surrounded her, enveloped her, calmed her very soul.
Somehow she knew she had to make an important decision, but she couldn’t quite grasp what was being asked of her. If she could just understand, she could make the right choice…
A sharp pounding tore through her reverie, ripping her away from the balmy golden light and into chilling darkness.
Cassie shot up, her heart pounding. It hadn’t been the scariest dream, yet cold sweat coated her body, trickling down her temples. The thudding in her ears kept her from hearing her grandmother’s voice.
“Ah, who could that be at this time’a night?”
Nana Rose got up from her thin mattress on the low lying cot, her knees cracking, her body wobbling. Cassie was still too disoriented from her dream to be of much help.
The Maid of Salerno Description:
In a dark and broken world, one young woman is a ray of hope.
In 2019 the United States was hit with The Darkening, an apocalyptic terrorist attack that killed millions, including the President and most leaders. The country was thrown into turmoil, poverty, and literal darkness, where electricity is a thing of the past.
Cassiopeia Serrell was born into this harsh reality of a world without power, government or even the security of knowing where each meal will come from. With only her wise old Nana Rose to guide her through life in their New Jersey squatter’s settlement of Salerno, they struggle to survive, desperate to keep hope alive, despite the threat of the tyrannical Magistrate who lords over them.
Beyond the walls of Salerno, a pocket of ultra-rich patriots are on a mission to return the United States to its former place in the world before the Darkening. A time that few even remember, since the terrorist strikes decimated the country, leaving it to be ruled by gangs and criminals. As the patriots begin their search for the one who will reunite America, they realize that while they have resources, money and power, they lack the key ingredient – a leader that all will follow.
