CRABAPPLE COURT

 CRABAPPLE COURT - an excerpt

PAGE 21 - 22

In this fashion Crabapple Court is the only street in Fairmont that is lined with these jewels. The boulevards of the five houses are deep and very long. Each boulevard boasts several crabapple trees and they provide an attractive and an ongoing all-season draw for camera-carrying tourists. Most often these visitors are spotted by the locals in the spring and early summer of each year when the pearly white to delicate pink to deep red blossoms have completed their journey toward full bloom.

These beautiful eye-catching trees do their best to hide the five houses from the curious eyes of the Fairmont residents as well as from those of the tourists who walk their dogs, their children; not to mention their jealousies, along the boardwalk on the fair weather days.

If one were to view only these five homes he might imagine he was looking at the homes of movie stars in California. Indeed, by viewing only these houses, it becomes difficult to imagine that Fairmont is a small, struggling mill town but that is exactly what it is.

However even such a town such as this requires professional people to serve the community. Every town needs a doctor, a veterinarian, a lawyer, an investment banker, and a dentist. Fairmont is no exception and in addition to these professionals Fairmont, being a one-industry town, is home to the mill's owner who just happens to own the only hotel and most of the small business establishments that hug the sidewalks along Main Street.  It is not surprising and in fact it is expected that, indeed, there will be some, if not many, upper scale homes found in a lunch-bucket town which will suit the needs of these upwardly mobile professionals.

Without exception the residents of Crabapple Court do not like to draw attention to themselves or to their homes. I know for a fact that they do not like publicity. No, sir, they do not appreciate media attention but this day, whether they like it or not, the Fairmont residents are keeping them under strict scrutiny. Indeed the eyes of the entire country are fixed upon them. ...............

CRABAPPLE COURT is available on all Amazon sites. You can find it on my Author's Page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

OR DIRECTLY at https://www.amazon.ca/Crabapple-Court-Audrey-Austin/dp/0978023870/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2UEL4YHJGCGAY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9KyJHI59gjPEMyXNYCK6IA.QAfEREG9CsM0TXMGFow3rt6Hh1IFBHXkXTlZllI1OYI&dib_tag=se&keywords=Audrey+Austin+crabapple+court&qid=1775486262&s=books&sprefix=audrey+austin+crabapple+court%2Cstripbooks%2C238&sr=1-1

Happy Easter 2026

 

WHEN GOD GIVES US SPRING

WHEN GOD GIVES US SPRING - an excerpt

PAGE 43 - 44

I always listened with care to the dinner and after-dinner conversations held by Master Alfred with his plantation owner friends. I learned that when a run-away slave was caught, if he was not hung by the neck on a tree branch or lynched or dragged behind a galloping horse until he was dead, he would be jailed and then delivered to a judge who would do a property evaluation before the slave was put up for public auction. Often this evaluation was reached dependent upon the number of whip welts on a slave's back.   Too many welts meant he tried to run away too often; was too difficult to control and therefore not worth as much as a run-away with fewer or no welts at all.

Of course some owners offered rewards, sometimes as much as twenty-five dollars, for the return of a run-away slave. I thought that when I ran away from home Master Alfred would probably offer a big reward for my return.

I felt fearful but I would not be deterred. I began to make my plans. 

There were many obstacles to be dealt with and overcome. First of all, I had no geographic sense of my location or of a feasible destination. Particularly during the War of 1812 I had heard talk about a place called Canada. I had no idea where this place was in relation to Alexandria, Virginia. I didn't know if it was five miles or five hundred miles away. My first goal was to determine this distance.

I wondered how I could accomplish this goal. Would I find my answer in one of Master Alfred's books? When he was not at home I would spend hours examining his bookshelves, not only those in the drawing room but also the many more books in his private library. In my entire life I had never seen a map. I had overheard maps mentioned in conversations but I had no idea what a map should look like. The fact that I did not know what I was looking for did not deter me.

For many months I searched at every opportunity and finally one afternoon in the summer of 1835 I found a large book on a library shelf. This book contained colourful shapes and I saw printed the names of many towns and cities. I was able to recognize the name Alexandria in Virginia. Such a small dot on the page for such a large place. Alexandria was the only world I knew much of anything about.

From these pictures I could see that Canada was massive. I could also see that Canada was very far away; more than three hundred miles away I figured not knowing whether my figuring was an accurate one.

I wondered how long a mile was; how long it would take to walk one mile. I had no idea and there was no one I could ask. ..................................

WHEN GOD GIVES US SPRING is available on all Amazon sites.  You will find it on my Amazon Author's Page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

OR directly at https://www.amazon.ca/When-God-Gives-Us-Spring/dp/1499106769/ref=sr_1_1?crid=112WOHSVBA4E2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.a9LsbqZla18K8mwP_OiBbhPeuJogsaTGC7_2RcO_cR0.-9lf7ppMFGLOSYxMXDY0sZdBdrkstJt1op_Whfch4F4&dib_tag=se&keywords=Audrey+Austin+When+God+Gives+Us+Spring&qid=1775400855&s=books&sprefix=audrey+austin+when+god+gives+us+spring%2Cstripbooks%2C107&sr=1-1

RECOMPENSE

 RECOMPENSE: - an excerpt

PAGE 21 - 22

For thirty-nine years I lived in Salt River. Let me tell you a little about my home town.

Once a booming part of Cape Town, Salt River used to be its industrial heart. They have all since closed due to the influx of cheaper imported clothing but when I was a young fellow textile and clothing factories abounded. I also remember that on almost every street corner there was a grocery shop attached to a house. Each of these corner store houses was lived in by an East Indian family. I was told that it was only by agreeing to these living and working conditions that East Indian immigrants were permitted to live in Salt River.

My father was a black man and the law permitted him to buy a house. This is what he did and it was to this house that my mother came when they married. It was in this very same house that I was born.

My mother was a white woman and of course white people were always permitted to do anything in the world they wished. Being white in a black world guaranteed a life of privilege. But in spite of this life filled with advantage and opportunity my mother had a very difficult time.  Loneliness was her constant companion. She had few friends as there were practically none like her in Salt River.

Yes, there were other white women but these others were married to white men. These women looked down on my mother and would have nothing to do with her. No one, not the whites, not the blacks, and not the coloureds: no one looked with favour at a white woman who was foolish enough to marry a black man in Cape Town in those years. Because mother had no white friends come to our house I never met another white woman until many years later when I moved to my mother's Canadian birth place.

PAGE 23 - 24

At the time of my parents' death South Africa suffered prolonged recession. Many businesses in Salt River closed. Unemployment and crime had increased. Drug use and a rise in gangs was the situation and this combined with the fact that I had no family left there helped me to make the big decision to immigrate into Canada.

My parents willed their house to me. I was able to sell this property and it was the funds from the property sale that I carried with me into the small town of High River, Alberta.

Like I said, I was forty years old or more when Alison Pierce moved into my little bungalow in High River. Our lives together were simple. We never lived as husband and wife but we never let the rest of High River society know this about us. It was our secret ................................

RECOMPENSE is available on all Amazon sites.  You will find it on my Amazon Author's Page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

 OR directly at https://www.amazon.ca/Recompense-novella-Audrey-Austin/dp/1500503010/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29UYB9LMI7VZB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FbEUoSHjD32_Xocixga_pYTgOgO7J00EDHYYcY5I7sjGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.t63fDT-j_NQsg-gbBuPIrUsGKTi0GiJYyThvC0Nmdjc&dib_tag=se&keywords=Audrey+Austin+recompense&qid=1775316467&s=books&sprefix=audrey+austin+recompense%2Cstripbooks%2C106&sr=1-1

POETRY FROM A TO Z

POETRY FROM A TO Z - an excerpt

PAGE 79 - 83

JESUS 

I love the story I've been told

of a baby born long ago

in difficult times

to a young single mom

who seemed unprepared

for the power and strength

of the boy as he grew

into a manhood

admired and respected.

He walked on his journey,

was honoured and welcomed

into the hearts

and the minds of the people

he touched with his wisdom,

divinity,

touched with his hope and his love.

Two thousand and more years

have come and have gone

but

the message of Jesus has never been lost

and maybe

because the lesson is simple

or maybe

because his words were direct,

He is revered

and He is debated

but His directives

if not always followed,

are always remembered,

at least that's what they say.

Love one another

seems to be easy,

or

seems that this shouuld be a natural thing to do

but people decided

that Jesus was wrong

and they wrote their own words

to his original song.

Love one another

became

Love one another

except for

those of a different colour;

except for

those of a different religion;

except for

those of a different culture;

except for

those of a different sexual orientation;

except for 

those who make more money;

except for

those who are poorer than Job;

except for

your neighbour

and except for

yourself.

I love the story

I've been told of Jesus.

Too bad

people had to turn his story

into a fiction;

an excuse;

a reason to hate;

a church

and a building

with an ever growing number

of empty pews

because we choose not

to do as he taught

and

simply love one another.

I guess

it's not always easy

to be simple.

POETRY FROM A TO Z is an anthology of poems available on all Amazon sites.  You can find it on my Amazon Author's Page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

OR directly at  https://www.amazon.ca/Poetry-Z-Audrey-Austin/dp/150098910X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=385ZRGNYF72H&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y4grRz-h0G8CDWP4uIdKcb3lm74ziGYAClccg03srUlax1Fy1S_s0gOnsDlDMvJ13EsaajgbWdUNs4Mx-7WUOw.IAeuzM6D7KXQroG_yYNx2oPN08v-cwGPCB0G7h6sVZw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Audrey+Austin+poetry+from+a+to+z&qid=1775225685&s=books&sprefix=audrey+austin+poetry+from+a+to+z%2Cstripbooks%2C126&sr=1-1

ELLEN AND THE HUMMINGTREE

 ELLEN AND THE HUMMINGTREE - an excerpt

PAGE 114 - 115

Memory kept knocking on the door of my mind. I refused to answer. I refused to open the door. I felt frozen. I just wanted to go to sleep. But memory kept up its determined knock, knock, knock.

I grew tired of being stubborn and resistant. I grew plain old-fashioned tired. I gave up and I gave in. The next time memory knocked I listened as it talked to me.  Upon listening I became  vulnerable and it was my vulnerability that responded. Yes, I remember the day my mother gifted me with the beautiful, gleaming, glass angel of protection.

Once I acknowledged the memory I was able to pull myself out of the old chair. With two legs to stand on I walked across the floor of the living-room and stretched my needful arm up just far enough to allow my empty fingers to wrap around the angel's shiny, smooth body.

Touching the angel lifted my heart. Today this act of touch was very different from days past when I would quicky grab it just long enough to wrap the dusting cloth around it.

Today this act of touch enabled me to feel my mother's love as it flowed through me. It was as thouugh she were saying, "Didn't I always take good care of you? Wasn't I always a good mother? Just because I've gone to my heavenly home does not mean I won't continue to be with you. My child, don't you know I will be with you always?"

The tangled knot in my stomach began to unravel as I felt my mother's loving protection flow through the angel and throughout my body until I was filled with love from head to toe.

At last I was ready. I was more than ready to do what I knew had to be done. ...........

ELLEN AND THE HUMMINGTREE is available on all Amazon sites.  You will find it in my Amazon Author's Page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

OR directly at https://www.amazon.ca/ELLEN-HUMMINGTREE-Audrey-Austin/dp/1926614674/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MJWCPO7LF0I6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JcIT7S9JcTSZVLHWqqDYTF0hzo9XJ0-PxTIby6Z3j67GjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.-VYloX8XPD0Zl1Nxd5r6GLVlMcO3EdymDVCTE91L_4E&dib_tag=se&keywords=Audrey+Austin+ellen+and+the+hummingtree&qid=1775142390&s=books&sprefix=audrey+austin+ellen+and+the+hummingtree%2Cstripbooks%2C112&sr=1-1