Soon-to-be eighteen-year-old Paula Winfield is an only child in the small town of Patagonia, Arizona. Her relationship with her mother is strained and she feels as if she hardly knows her father anymore. However, her life is turned upside down when a tragic accident takes her mother and her father ends up in jail; Paula, feeling betrayed and lonely, is catapulted into an unknown world which forces her to grow up and question who she really is. In comes classmate Chad Hunsaker, who becomes forefront in Paula’s life and shows her kindness and love. Still, dark clouds continue to hover over the Winfield household. Paula has to decide whether she will fall or soar above the hurt and learn to forgive, heal past wounds and take the journey on the wings of faith.
Here's an excerpt from the prologue of The Crystal Locket: The Gateway to the Portals of Time
Prologue “It’s ready!” W.T. beamed. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The years of planning and programming, the sacrifice of his time, at the expense of his family, all seemed to melt away as he saw the finished product. It was spectacular! The crowd in the room gathered, gazing at the object that would transform the world as they knew it. The super computer was finished, just waiting for the insertion of the crystal that would transform the fragmented world powers into the ultimate one world power, the likes of which had never been seen before. W.T. carefully lifted the crystal from under the glass covering which rested on top of the thick metal podium, grasping it firmly but gently, feeling the power and heat emanating from it, like a steaming hand towel wrapped in his hands. Eagerly, he flipped open the clasp on the underbelly of the crystal. Suddenly the room transformed into a brilliant, colorful spectacle of past world events, the Garden of Eden, Moses and the plagues of Egypt, Christ’s birth, and many more historical events cascading before them. The colors were vibrant, vivid, in emerald greens, ruby reds, coal blacks, amethyst purples and every other color contained in the zodiacal symbols. The colors swirled together, yet each color reflecting the events taking place. “I can’t believe it’s finished. It’s simply breathtaking,” S.T. gasped, as she walked around it resisting the urge to bow down and worship it as if it were some sort of god. “Finally!” Omar, the project director, clasped his hands. “It’s gorgeous W.T. Well done!” he exclaimed, patting his shoulder. W.T. breathed a fresh sigh of relief. He had been working on this gem for years and felt like a proud father. It would go down in history as the most significant and perhaps the greatest tool in the fight for liberty, justice and the way of life Americans had been loosing, slowly, over the last decade or so to world tyranny. Now that it was completed, the crystal would finally provide the ultimate power source, the power to ensure safety and a peace the world has never seen. The excitement over the crystal hardly abated as W.T. slowly walked to INFINITY, the nickname given the giant computer. All he had to do to activate it was insert the crystal and the crystal would do the rest, providing unlimited power, powering not only the whole room, but the computer itself forever, as if the sun itself had been harnessed. “Here we go,” W.T. said in eager anticipation. He picked up the shimmering disc, careful not to soil it, and placed it in the slot. Just as he was about to insert it, a great wind blew through the room, carrying with it a bright white light that raced down to the ground; before their eyes, Carmentis, Goddess of Prophecy, materialized and held up her transparent hand. “No! It has been corrupted!” she said, her eyes troubled. W.T. stared at Carmentis. The first time he had seen her was when she appeared, giving him instructions on how to create an exact copy of the original crystal, which she possessed. Looking like a Roman goddess with an emerald gown, which appeared to float gracefully over the ground; her dark silky hair flowing down her back, and the light emanating off her, was mesmerizing. She wore a gold crown, with a circular disc surrounding by ruby gems at the top. She was beautiful. He had always thought so, but today she looked forlorn. “How?” W.T. questioned with stark confusion. “Many secret organizations have wanted to manipulate this process for their own scheme for many years…” “Who? Why? This is ultra top-secret. Not even the president knows. No one outside this group knows about this project,” Omar said with strong assurance in his voice. “You’re wrong Omar,” Carmentis corrected. “It’s true that no one outside of your agency knows, but you have a mole,” she said, her eyes scanning the room and the forty or so people who stood there dazed. W.T. looked at his colleagues, suddenly unsure of who they really were. Yet, they all seemed so trusting, and had even been checked out by TASA, The Technological Association of Special Affairs. No one had aroused his suspicions. “I am sorry. But if you insert the disc now, it would divert all the data contained within the disk, and the technology for INFINITY, to a secret world organization controlled by the Supremacy. To safeguard its information, it is imperative that the disk be broken into twelve parts which I will scatter throughout time, in places which would be most difficult to find. When the time is right, I will alert your director and he can take over from there,” she said. Turning her attention to W.T., she added, “Only a select few of you will be notified. When all of the problems in the computer are fixed, and we uncover the mole, we can begin again.” W.T.’s shoulders slumped. How long would it take to repair everything? Even to retrieve the disk? Who would they send through time to retrieve the disk? He was so close! He had so many questions. “When did you discover the computer was corrupted?” Omar questioned, eyeing the group suspiciously. “Shortly after the program was started we had become aware of a spy. We waited, hoping he would give himself away. We just recently discovered that the computer had been compromised,” Carmentis replied, gazing out over the group. Everyone seemed to be lost in their own world, especially a tall stocky man, with dark oval eyes. He stood in the back of the room, concealed by the bodies in front of him, staring condescendingly at the woman. A wide grin surfaced; it was all falling into place…
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Paula's
Choice: On The Wings of Faith