This story of a woman's journey is a novella at about 22,900 words and first of what I plan to be more novellas about women starting over (name of the series). I have several books to write first, but this idea interests me. Women Starting Over series will be romances but also about women, mostly of a certain age, finding purpose in a new way. Each will be, like this one, complete even if they share some characters in future stories. No cliffhangers. This novella is G rated. They might not all be that but always closed doors on any sex. Novellas are shorter books and by their nature, they don't have room for the spice.
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Bear
Butte State Park had a nice dog walk, but she could not take the dogs onto the
butte. It was another of those times she was glad she hadn’t gotten a larger
motor home as she could drive to the trailhead parking lot. Although her fur
babies weren’t pleased at being left behind, they had water and windows to look
out.
At the
base of the butte was an encampment of tepees and campers with a few people
visible, but it was as quiet as the trail. A sign warned people to be
respectful as this was sacred ground. Along
the trail were prayer cloths and small sacks of tobacco tied to tree limbs. A
few others walked the trail, but for the most she felt alone and much as
someone might’ve years before when listening to Crazy Horse address the people
from the base of the butte. Halfway up, a barefoot Indian man approached from
above. He said nothing as he passed. It seemed that he was on a quest of some
sort. She respected that. Maybe she was too.
At the
top, she sat on the ground for a while thinking of the choices she’d made as
far back as becoming a teacher, marrying Jeff, having children. So many choices
and how many had she even considered what she wanted? Mostly she had done what
she was supposed to do. This was her first time to step out and only consider
what she wanted. Maybe she finally had that right.
That
night, the campground was quiet, with only few other rigs since it didn’t offer
hookups. The stars overhead were incredibly bright. It was her first time to
camp without electricity, but the battery did well. In the morning, she could
use her small generator if needed. She
wanted more places that had this feeling and such wonderful quiet.
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