The Summer People- Book One

By S.M. Muse

Leave it to the Serpent people to steal everything, including Jake's parents.

Determined to find them, Jake seeks out his next-door neighbors, the Twin's Ashley and Elijah. Together with Merwin, a mysterious stranger of the Order of Rasputin, they begin a journey of discovery and fear, of a people called the Summer People, and their age-old enemies the mysterious and fearful, sibilant.

"To create peace, the Summer People basically gave up their king," Ashley said. "Put him in shackles and chains, carried him off to the Sibilant homeland, a dark and terrible place with lots of screaming and pain. That's the only way the Sibilant would stop fighting." She leaned in, began whispering. "According to stories, he's still there today, waiting to be freed. Waiting for a hero to be born." Eyes narrowing, "Waiting times such as these."

"Times like these?" Jake asked. What's so special about these times?"

"You," Ash replied, eyes narrowing. She grabbed his hand, "It's you, Jake! He's been waiting all this time for you!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: S.M. Muse
• Release date: Dec 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463598818

S.M. Muse

After meeting Frank Herbert, author of the acclaimed Dune Series, I decided the life of writing was for me. That was about 30 years ago, I've been writing ever since. Heir of Nostalgia is my first published novel, and thanks to the encouragement of my loving wife Janet, is the first in a series chronicling the trials and tribulations of young man in search of his family, his country as well as his place in the world. I am pleased to present it here, for your reading pleasure. I truly believe in the gift and wonder of reading, I hope you do as well.Here's to the land of wonder, an air of Nostalgia, and childhood memories. May we never grow too old to dream...Got a question, comment or review, I'd love to hear from you. Simply drop me a line at: [e-mail].

Book preview

The Summer

People

S.M. MUSE

Other Works:

The Valerian Cycle

Heir of Nostalgia- A Gathering Darkness

Heir of Nostalgia- Kaelynn’s Tale

Heir of Nostalgia- The Invisible City (Forthcoming)

Standalone Novels

Fata Morgana

The King Tree

The Summer People Series

The Summer People- Book One

The Summer People- Book Two

The Summer People Book Three

The Summer People Book Four

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Quotes and notations: Wikipedia Source

Text copyright © 2020 by S.M. Muse

ISBN: 9781725732711

Setting

Cast Of Characters

Prologue

‘Come away, O human child: To the waters and the wild with a fairy, hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.’

~ WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Mre gule, bachtaleja, sas kaj na sa

(My sweet, blessed, once upon a time)

Chapter 1

For Jake, it was all about being outdoors and playing in the newly fallen snow. Well, that and possibly meeting the new next-door neighbors. After all, his mother always told him to be nice to people, to extend a hand of friendship… or something like that.

Well…

Startled, he was surprised to see his mother standing in his bedroom doorway. She was wearing a pair of baggy Mizzou sweatpants and one of his father’s old Toby Mac tee’s. She must have been doing the dishes as well, she had a mostly wet dishtowel thrown over her right shoulder. As disheveled as she appeared, his mother was still an incredibly beautiful woman, with blazing red hair piled high in waves over brilliant blue eyes, pronounced cheeks, and full ruby-red lips. To him though, she would always be ‘Mom’.

Well, young man. As she spoke her right hand wrung and re-wrung the dishtowel. Are you going outside to play or not? Daylight’s a-wasting and dinner is just around the corner. You don’t have much time, you know.

Duhhhh. Stopping in mid-sentence he pointed out what she already knew but refused to acknowledge, namely the plastic sign plastered to the middle of his bedroom door, the one that said:

NO GIRLS ALLOWED!

Twelve going on thirteen, and in his mind, he had all the time in the world to get ready. The world really was, as his mom would say, ‘his oyster.’

With a wry grin, his mother took a quick step back, giving him his perceived space, all the while laughter reflecting in her eyes. Oh, excuse me; I didn’t realize I was intruding, she said.

All I can say is, read it and weep, he replied, yanking on his black and yellow snow boots. Once that was accomplished, he fished out his favorite winter coat, shrugged it on, and then grabbed his mittens and cowboy hat.

You really should wear a stocking cap, his mother began.

And look like a dork, he replied. I don’t think so. After all, stocking caps were for sissies. Ten-gallon cowboy hats on the other hand, Al Dean says they’re the only hat a real man needs.

By the time he was done bundling up, he looked more like an Eskimo, a Wild-West version of an Eskimo, but an Eskimo, nonetheless. On the inside, though, he felt like an overstuffed turkey being readied for Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, he was already sweating like a pig, and the bad news was he hadn’t even done anything yet.

He couldn’t wait to escape outside.

How am I supposed to build a snowman, he began, when I can’t even touch my nose? With this he waved his left hand, then his right, both times attempting to swipe at his nose. He missed both times by more than a foot.

I didn’t know that the ability to touch one’s nose was a skill required to build a snowman, she replied, having watched his dramatic display several times during her life.

And this was why he was ‘supposedly’ grouchy all the time. His parents never left him alone, not even for a minute, always pointing out the obvious, being sarcastic. At this rate, he was probably going to grow up bitter, old, and jaded, requiring hours of therapy. Can I go now? he asked.

In answer to his question, she violated all his posted rules by rushing in and grabbing him up, smothering his cheek in slobbery kisses, and telling him how much she loved and