I’ve never read, or wrote, for that matter a short story but never say never. Today I had the pleasure of reading Shannon Eckrich’s short story After the Rain. I read so much, and sometimes it’s nice to switch gears and read something completely out of my comfort zone, which for me is exactly why I picked up After the Rain.
But even now, hours after reading those 2000 words, I’m still left thinking about After the Rain. It’s a bittersweet read. Mrs. Eckrich grabs the reader with her eloquently crafted words, and then well, rips your heart out.
Janie Chanson leaves Adam, her seven-year-old son, with her sister while she runs to the store. When she returns, her house is fully engulfed in flames, and her son is trapped inside. Powerless to save him, Janie can only watch as firefighters attempt to rescue him.—Quoted from Smashwords
My first thoughts, the cover is pretty, the blue words small against the brightly coloured flower are a little hard to read. The black background is eerie with the beauty that is offered from the flower, speckled with rain. But it had me interested, as did the blurb. And that’s all that matters. The small words on the cover are easy to get passed.
Right off you are forced to feel compassion for Janie. She loves her son. She’s already endured a tragedy that she’s managed to force herself to accept. But with that loss, her son, now the center of her world is faced with something, even I, as a mother can understand. You want what’s best for your kids, but you also want to give them the best. Even if it means leaving the house, leaving your child in the care of another and battling the lines of the supermarket just to see a smile spread wide across their precious face.
But life is always taken for granted isn’t it? We never think beyond, never think about the “what if’s” and we never, ever think tragedy will strike. It won’t happen to us, we believe, everyday. And Janie sure didn’t think she’d be faced with another life altering tragedy.
What makes this beautiful is the quick burst of words that got me reaching for the Kleenex. I never thought it possible to engage the reader in such a short amount of time, but that’s exactly what Mrs. Eckrich did. After the Rain is a haunting story showing us that love not only exists but it is timeless. That death, even though heart-wrenching can also be beautiful, just like the rain splattered flower on the cover.
So, if you want a short read, but one that will have you tearing up, and one that won’t leave your mind, or your heart, please pick up Shannon Eckrich’s After the Rain. It’s short, it’s sad but it’s powerful!
2 October 2011 at 19:11
Sounds like a great read.
2 October 2011 at 20:26
Thanks for dropping by and commenting Joanne! It was a good read :)
4 October 2011 at 13:32
I'm so going to read it. I struggle with short works of fiction. I found my novella more difficult to write than my novel. Thanks for sharing this with us.
4 October 2011 at 14:38
Thanks Ciara, I struggled to with the idea of a short story, I'd never read one before. This one has such potential to become even more than a short story, if Ms. Eckrich want to expand on it, but it's also good the way it is. For me this is going to turn into my, I need to be sad, so I'll go read After the Rain to put me in the mood lol