The Beginning: An eShort Prequel to the Bridge by Karen Kingsbury

Author:Karen Kingsbury
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Howard Books
Published: 2012-09-18T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Edna could see something different in Donna’s face as soon as she walked into The Bridge after work that day. It was summertime, and the city crowd from Nashville shopped Franklin’s Main Street. More people meant more hours at the mercantile, so Edna made it into her favorite bookstore only once a week or so. This was one of those days.

Donna was waiting for her.

She smiled. “I picked out your next one.” She pulled a book from beneath the register and set it on the counter. “It’s time.”

Edna and Donna were friends after so many months, but this was the first time the shopkeeper had ever chosen a book for her ahead of time. “Okay.” Edna came closer and looked at the title. Little Women. She knew the story, of course, knew it was about a family of girls coming of age and she vaguely knew it was sad. That was the reason she’d avoided it. For all the books she’d allowed herself to get lost in, she’d avoided stories that dealt with great tragedy or loss.

After all, she was still in the middle of her own.

But looking at the cover, something about the book called to her. Little Women. She looked at Donna. Despite the time that had passed, she had never gone into detail about losing Tom. It was enough that her new friend had the facts. The rest of the story would come in time. When the thought of recounting it didn’t make Edna feel sick.

Donna held out the book. “It’s about loss. I won’t hide the fact.” Tucked in her expression was a wisdom greater than her twenty-something years, a wisdom that could only have come from experience. Edna hadn’t noticed that about the shopkeeper before. “Read it . . . please.”

Something in her tone left Edna no option. She began the book that night and immediately became part of the March family. As she traveled the chapters, her deep connection to the characters had her laughing one minute and touched the next. She could see where the story was going. Little Women had been around as long as Edna could remember. Some of her friends had to read it in English class, but Edna’s teacher had assigned an anthology of short stories instead.

Not only had she missed this brilliant and beautiful story, but she had missed the reason it was sad. By the time she realized the inevitable tragedy just ahead, Edna was a fifth sister and sweet Beth was her best friend. As Beth’s frailty became more evident and her condition worsened, Edna read the book through streams of tears.

After three days of reading, Edna sat beside Beth and watched her tender musical heart gracefully begin to slip away. When Beth drew her last breath, Edna wept uncontrollably, the way she had given way to sobs after Tom’s death. Questions railed against her soul. Why did people have to die? And why was it always the good ones, the kind ones like Beth

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