The four Cole boys’
adventures on their island home have become a welcome escape, and one of
the only things in life the boys can truly rely on. Jessie, the
youngest and a dreamer, becomes enamoured with US
plans for manned space flight and its race to the moon, stirring his own dreams
of one day becoming an astronaut. Jessie has deep thoughts but doesn’t think he
does.
I was touched by Jessie's perceptive and sensitive nature, he has a close relationship with all his brothers but especially Max the oldest. What forges the closeness is shared pain and anger but together they help each other through the issues that come up against them.
I like the way that Jessie escapes by dreaming of the astronaut Gus who helps him to process things. He questions the things we all as Christians do before and after conversion and is
Dreamer
July 20, 1964
Soft, warm sand scrunched between Jessie's
toes. Waves rolled onto the shore, white foam racing up the hard packed sand
toward him, receding just inches before it would have splashed over his feet.
Jessie looked up and down the pristine sand, then back toward the dunes of
waving sea oats and thick palm fronds. His roving gaze stopped at the sight of
a man cresting the dune, seeming to float above the thick vegetation.
As the man drew closer, Jessie felt his
stomach flutter with excitement, recognizing astronaut Gus Grissom.
"Good afternoon, Jessie." Grissom
smiled down at him.
"Mr. Grissom, how did you know my
name?" Jessie stammered in awe.
"I hear you want to be an astronaut when
you grow up." Grissom started walking down the beach and Jessie fell in
step beside him.
"I do,” Jessie breathed. “I can't wait
till I am old enough to apply." Jessie couldn't tear his eyes away from
Grissom as they walked.
"That's good. We'll need lots of young
men to carry on this mission. There is so much still to be learned and
explored. I'm sure we’ll face setbacks that will seem insurmountable, but as
long as we have the faith and support of the country, I believe this space
program can make a real difference. We can do things that others only dream
of."
Jessie nodded solemnly. "I won't give up
on you."
Grissom's eyes grew sad and he turned his gaze
out to the ocean. "You were ready to give up on us once, after Alan's
brief flight into space. You said it wasn't worth it for less than twenty
minutes."
Jessie felt a stab of guilt. How did Grissom
know about his innermost thoughts? "I was wrong then. After you and John
Glenn made longer trips I understood Mr. Shepard was a pioneer, blazing the
path, pushing the limits to see what could be done. I won't doubt again, I
promise."
Grissom looked down at Jessie and placed a
hand on his shoulder. "Remember that promise in the days and years to
come."
Jessie nodded, thrilled by the faith and confidence Grissom's hand on
his shoulder instilled in him. Just as
quickly as he had appeared, Grissom was gone and Jessie was alone on the beach
again. In the distance he could make out the upright shape of the launch tower.
"Wake up, Jessie," a quiet voice
whispered in his ear, as a soft hand shook his shoulder.
Jessie rolled over and opened his eyes to see
his mother standing over him, wearing the same pale blue dress she had worn
that morning as they had been evicted. Jessie rubbed his eyes and looked at his
watch, surprised only forty-five minutes had passed.
"Lunch is ready, sweetheart."
Eleanor's eyes crinkled with her smile.
"I'll be right there," Jessie
replied. When his mother had left the room, he sat up and studied his feet,
surprised to see he wasn't barefoot, with sand between his toes, but rather
wore the old sneakers he'd fallen asleep in. Did he only dream his meeting with Gus Grissom?
Of course it was only a dream. What chance did
a kid like him have of actually meeting an astronaut? It was childish of him to
have believed it for even a second, and yet... Jessie touched his shoulder,
where Grissom's hand had rested, and he again felt that confidence. Dreams did
sometimes come true, you know.
Not feeling hungry, and still bemused by his
dream, Jessie meandered into the kitchen where he found his brothers sitting
around the table, all eyes expectantly on him. With a start, he saw a cake
standing there, decorated with fourteen brightly burning candles.
into his mouth.
About The Author
Rebekah is a Christian with a heart for new
beginnings. She is a Florida native and a graduate of Jacksonville University,
Jacksonville, Fl. A love of history,
research and journaling led naturally to a passion for writing. She enjoys
travel and has traveled extensively across the United States and Canada as well
as Europe and the Caribbean. Her reading taste run from the classics to light fiction. When she is not working or
writing, she enjoys cooking, baking and sharing recipes on her blog.
Her current works include, Summer Storms and
Winter's End, books one and two in The Seasons of Faith series, and Julianne
the first book in The Coastal Chronicle series. She is currently working on Jessie a coming of age novel set in coastal
Florida during the early days of the United States manned space flight program.
Jessie is the second book in the Coastal Chronicles Series.
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