Blog Tour Stop: Concealed in the Shadows Excerpt

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Sydney Harter has long awaited September 12th, 2033, her eighteenth birthday. She can finally apply for guardianship of her sister Evvie, her only family and entire world. Sydney holds a sliver of hope that they will be lawfully reunited, and that light will return to her desolate life, but she is prepared to defy authority and risk everything to escape Miles County so that she and Evvie can live full lives together.

Escaping will be difficult and dangerous. Citizens are bound to their county by sophisticated chip implants that deliver shocks to anyone who crosses the county's electric barrier. Sydney is very clever, but her trickery is limited against the all-seeing eyes of county technology. It seems impossible to escape into the forgotten forests and cities of the past, but Sydney is determined to find a way if she is denied guardianship of her sister. For years she has longed to break free from the government's experimental Petri Dish and the hallowed drones that inhabit it.

What Sydney doesn't know is that the county has particular interest in her. Her place in this complex dystopia is about to change. Deceit, fear, and warfare, will come to characterize her life, yet her love for Evvie will always prevail. She must protect her sister, but at what cost?

GABRIELLE ARROWSMTIH enjoyed writing her debut novel, Concealed in the Shadows, during a lovely Minnesota summer that she had off from her primary profession, teaching. She looks forward to continuing the story. Acting, playing and coaching soccer, reading, playing piano, and spending time with family and friends are among her other interests. Visit her on Book Blogs

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Excerpt:

Chapter 3 (pgs. 19-21). Significance: Sydney dreams of the day that her grandmother, her caregiver, explains to her that her time has come and that she will inherit the responsibility of raising her sister and hiding her mother’s mental illness.

“But now, our nation has decided it would be better if people didn’t live so long.”

“So that they wouldn’t have to hurt?”

“Something like that, sweetie.”

“Well what did they do, grandma?” asks the concerned child, already predicting a worrisome answer.

“Well sweetie, the people who make the laws worked together with doctors to find a way for the old people to leave the world very peacefully, before most of them are old enough to get very sick or have much hurt.”

Suddenly the little girl isn’t so brave. Tears overtake her small face as she buries herself in her grandmother’s lap. “You’re not going to let them take you away, are you grandma? You can’t leave us!” The desperate pleas of the helpless child prove to be too much for her grandmother. The tears escape her too, but she fights to hold in the anger and the revulsion in order to be strong for the sake of the child.

“I wish I could stay forever, sweetheart. I wish I could see you and your sister grow into the strong, beautiful women that I know you will become. I wish I could see your mother get healthy again.” The tears try to choke off her words, but she forces them out. “But, you see, last night was my last Friday night sleepover with you and your sister, and sweetheart,” she places her hand on the shoulder of the little girl and smiles, “it was one of the best days of my life. I get to leave this world with warm memories of baking cookies and painting flowers with my two favorite people in the world.”

“I don’t want you to go!” the child protests as her heart boils and her face floods. She pulls her grandma’s arms around her and buries her head into her chest as she begs, “Just tell them you don’t feel sick. Tell them you want to stay a little longer.” She closes her eyes tightly and wishes that it were a nightmare. But already the little girl knows better than hoping for happiness in her life. She knows there are no exceptions to the unchallengeable laws.

“I know, sweetheart, I know.” The woman strokes and kisses the distraught and fragile girl’s hair as the child clings to her tightly. A few more tears slide from her weary eyes before she finds the strength to make a final request of her beloved grandchild.

“Sydney?” She looks down to where I’m still clinging to her, not ready to come away and meet the eyes I love so much as she tells me that this is the last time I will see her. “Sydney,” she tries again, this time gently pulling my chin from her chest. “I need you to do me one last favor, okay?” My grandma can see that I can’t handle this. How can she ask me, a mere child, to let go of the one I love most, the unyielding presence in my life? Her next words seem sharper than the rest in the memory, and I never let them go.

“Sydney Harter, I know it will be hard, but you have no choice other than to be the bravest girl there ever was. You have to be brave so that you and Evvie can grow up strong. Grandpa and I, your dad, and grandma and grandpa Harter, want to look down on you and smile because of how proud you’ve made us.” She waits. My wails have subsided to sobs, but the pain hasn’t lessened any. “You want to make all of us proud, right honey?”

“Yes,” I reply shakily. It took so much to utter that single word because with it came the acknowledgement that I had only begun learning hardship.

“Good, sweetheart. Good girl,” she soothes. “What I need you to do is try your very hardest to take care of your sister. Be good all of the time and try to help your mom when she seems sick.” Grandma’s eyes enlarge and she squeezes my hand more tightly. “Never ever tell anyone about your mom’s sickness, even if it seems like they are trying to help. Can you be a big girl and do those things for me, sweetheart?” I nod that I can, although I don’t believe it, and empty my heart in her lap for the last time.