Sneak Peek!

"Love is patient, love is kind. I am my beloved's, my beloved is mine. Ask and receive, seek and find. God is love, and love never fails." -God is Love, my song.

Hey there!

Welcome to my blog. I'm Karisa! You can check out my bio on the right or in my older posts. Right now, I'm working on publishing/writing my novel, Seeing Triple. It's an inspirational fiction for young adult readers. You can read more by scrolling down to my first post, which is a summary of the novel. I've also included more sneak peeks and chapters throughout my blog site.

Below, I've included a sneak peek preview chapter from the novel! The scene is told in first person by one of the three main characters, Madi Gray. Madi is a junior in high school, a competitive and fun loving soccer player. Her friend Daniel invited her to help him run a game booth at their church's Hallelujah Night, an alternative celebration on Halloween. Madi is just showing up at the church when the scene starts.

Madi

October 31, Monday

Joy

By now the rain’s died down a bit, and kids everywhere are happily ringing doorbells in tacky Princess costumes, filling their pillows cases with Three Musketeers and Almond Joy. I park Dad’s car in the crowded church parking lot before heading inside to the indoor carnival.

The church is overflowing with kids and their mommies crowded around booths of candy and prizes. An upbeat Toby Mac Christian rock song plays from the speakers, as children shoot hoops and win yoyos and lollipops.

“We lose our way, we get back up again. It’s never too late to get back up again. One day, you’re gonna shine again. You’re maybe out now, but not out forever.”

Colored streamers hang off every wall, and friends laugh over cotton candy, ice cream, and hot dogs. Kids doing the cake walk, little boys winning giant teddy bears. A teenager helps her little brother win a Despicable Me character at the claw game. I smile at the marvel in front of me and suddenly feel sorry for all the goblins and ghosts roaming the wet streets with soaking costumes and drenched bags of candy. This totally beats ol’ Halloween’s Day of the Dead.

Two little girls spill past me, their faces painted like butterflies and kitty cats. Everyone here seems to have something in common, something that I don’t have. Well, everyone ‘cept the kicking and screaming kid in the corner. It’s like they’re all chorusing one great Hallelujah. And they are. What is it that they all share, the thing that connects them? Joy? I head up to the ticket booth and volunteer’s sign-in table, contemplating this thought.

“Well howdy there,” a cowgirl says from behind the table, with a light Southern accent. “What brings ya here?”

“I’m signed up to work with Daniel Adams at Skeeball.”

“Well you’ll need one of these, then. Here ya go,” she hands me an empty name tag, and I scribble down MADI. She scans her clipboard list of workers. “Actually, Daniel asked to move you guys down to the soccer booth. That’s booth 22, right down the hall.”

Soccer? Score! “Sweet.” I grin at her. “Thanks!”

I head down the hallway, and the minute I see the curly haired dude with the bright grin and blue sweat shirt, a wide smile starts to spread across my face.

He doesn’t see me, as he turns his back to help the toddler. “There ya go. Right in the net, you can do it.”

The four-year old kicks and stumbles onto the ground, and Daniel gives the ball a light tap, letting it drift into the goal. “Great job! You were awesome.” Daniel grins and lets the boy choose from the big basket of goodies. “You remember your Bible verse from last week, Charlie?”

Little Charlie scrunches up his face. “Um…”

“Do not be afraid-” Daniel starts.

“For I am with you.” Charlie grips his new rubber ducky prize and finishes with a proud smile. Dude, this kid is smart for being so tiny.

“Isaiah 43:5,” Daniel says. “Good job, Charlie, I’m proud of you!”

“He just loves his Sunday school teacher,” Charlie’s mom beams at Daniel. “He talks about you all the time. You teach him so much.”

“Charlie’s a great kid, Mrs. Ryan. I’m happy to teach him.”

“Thanks, Daniel. I’m going to go say hi to your mother, now.”

“She should be at the baked goods table.” Daniel smiles and waves as Charlie Ryan walks away with his mother.

His face lights up when he sees me. “Hey, Madi! You came.”

“Of course!” I grin back. “Sorry I’m a bit late. I had to wait for my dad to get home from work to borrow his car.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, I’m glad you could make it.” He wraps his arms around me in a friendly hug. “So, what do you think of this booth? Pretty cool, huh?”

I laugh. “It rocks! I can’t believe you got the soccer booth, that’s super sweet.”

“I know, right?” He holds out his hand, and I shake it, fist pumping. “I got connections with the children’s director, so we worked out an arrangement.”

“So you’re a Sunday school teacher, huh?” I smile at him as we wait for the next kid hoping to win a giant lollipop.

“Yeah,” he smiles sheepishly. “It’s pretty cool. I teach Pre-K a lot, when the worship team doesn’t need me.”

“Drums, basketball, Sunday school, you really do it all, Daniel Adams.” I shake my head with a smile. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“I make time,” his brown eyes twinkle, as the next kid comes up to score a goal. “Hey there, you ready to play some soccer?”

The girl with the bandana nods her head.

“Are you a pirate?” I ask with a smile.

She nods again.

“How cool!” I smile at her, handing her the soccer ball. “I love pirates.” I help her set up the ball and hand her the basket of prizes when she’s done. “Awesome job. Have fun, Katie!”

She smiles really big and waves, her hands crammed with candy and prizes. The next girl is a year or two younger and has trouble shooting the ball. That leads to a  quick and total frustration with her attempts.

“Don’t give up, you got it,” I crouch down on one knee, until I’m at her level. “Just keep your eyes on the goal. Take a deep breath, and say I know I can.”

“Anything’s possible with God,” Daniel leans down on her other side, and the two of us share a smile.

“Just pull back your leg,” I start to say.

“And aim for the goal,” Daniel finishes. She kicks and knocks over the basket of prizes, but we give her one anyways.

The two of us get down on our hands and knees, cleaning up spilled packets of Sweet Tarts and Jolly Ranchers. The third and fourth graders seem to need little help, as they boldly approach and score a proud goal, lugging away pounds of candy.

“You’re a natural,” Daniel nudges me with a smile, as we reset the goal for our next players.

“I wouldn’t say that,” I smile back, as two girls score a goal and claim their prizes. I hold out the basket as they carefully select their pieces of candy like they’re picking running shoes at Nike.

“I didn’t know you were so good with kids,” he hands them both a chocolate bar.

“Neither did I,” I shake my head with a smile.

“You should help me with Pre-K sometime.”

“Just hit me up,” I lean back, my palms splayed against the wooden booth table. “And I’ll be there.”

“Daniel!”

We both look up, as a little girl in an oversized Hockey jersey runs up to Daniel. “Hey, Emmy,” Daniel reaches down and scoops her up. “Having fun?”

“Put me down!” She wiggles in his grasp. He shakes his head with a smile, setting her down on the floor. She has curly, light brown hair and the same sparkly eyes as him and Elisa.

“Where’s your head gear?” he asks.

“I left it at Mom’s table. It was too heavy.” She crosses her arms over her little chest. “Mom said you’d take me to the bounce house, now. She doesn’t want me going alone.”

“I gotta work the soccer booth for a while more, Em.” Daniel checks his phone for the time. “I’ll take you when our shift’s over.”

“Okay,” the little girl sighs then looks up at me with a curious look. “Daniel,” she whispers loudly, tugging his sweatshirt. “Who’s that?”

Daniel smiles at me. “Emmy, this is my good friend Madi. Madi just moved here from California. You know where that is?”

Emmy’s eyes widen in awe. “Far away.”

“Very far, all the way across the country.” Daniel looks at me with a grin. “Madi, this is my little sister Emma.”

“Hi Emma.” I lean down and give her a wide smile. “How old are you?”

“Five,” she puts her hands on her hips and grins at me, with some teeth missing. “Five and three quarters next month.” She smiles, and her little dimples peek out. She has the same smile as Daniel, too!

Daniel laughs, mussing her curly head. “You’ve been counting down, huh?”

Emma nods and tilts her head to the side, her eyes suddenly ginormous in realization. “I know you! You’re the girl from Daniel’s computer screen.”

“What?” I look at Daniel and smile, confused. His brows shoot up like the waves in Jaws.

“Um, what she means is you’re in a picture on my wallpaper,” he chuckles and looks at me, his brows still raised. “From the beach. That one we all took a while back.”

“I remember it,” I nod and smile at him.

“He likes to look at it a lot,” Emmy’s dimples peek out.

“Emmy, why don’t you get some ice cream-” Daniel reaches into his wallet.

“He talks about you too. All the time,” she does a little eye roll.

“Okay,” Daniel laughs nervously, his smile frozen on his face. “Um, Em, maybe could you-”

I lean forward, as Daniel struggles with his words. “Are you a hockey player like your brother?”

“Yes, I am. I’m wearing his jersey, see?” She turns around, where Adams is printed in bold black lettering across the back.

“I do see. Do you like sports?”

“I love sports!” She grins. “I play them all. And I like gymnastics and soccer the bestest.”

“She reminds me of me ten years ago,” I say to Daniel, as she bounds off to the bowling booth.

“Sometimes she just doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut.” He shakes his curly head and smiles.

“She didn’t know,” I look over at him with a smile. “And I don’t mind.”

We wrap up our shift ten minutes later, as two new recruits come to take over the booth. Daniel finds Emmy getting her face painted into a tiger then the three of us head over to the bounce house. Most of the kids are heading home with their parents by now, as the workers wrap up the last half hour of the night. As we watch little Emmy bounce off the red and blue air-inflated pillows, I feel an overwhelming urge to join her.

“Come on!” Emmy hollers from inside, jumping off the plush walls. “It’s just me!”

“No, I think we’re good.” Daniel calls back, as the two of us stand outside. “You have fun, Em.”

Emmy pouts, plastering her face up against the black netting. “Please? There’s no one else here.”

I look at Daniel, my brows raised. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Nah,” Daniel grins, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think I’ll stay out here.”

“Have some fun, Daniel. Loosen up,” I give him a sly smile. “Am I gonna have to make you?”

“I’m not ticklish.”

“Really?” I tilt my head with a slow smile starting. “Go get ‘em, Coach.”

He stares at the inflated bounce house for a minute, with Emmy flying around inside. “Oh, alright,” he grins, his dimples flashing. “Here we come, Em!”

I laugh as he scoops my body up in his arms, tossing me inside and jumping in behind me. The three of us laugh as we bounce around inside, Daniel lifting Emmy onto his shoulders, her voice shrill with giggling. We corner her and tickle her until she’s rolling over laughing.

“Yipee!” Emmy shrieks, landing splat in the center of the bounce house in a burst of giggles.

“Cowabunga!” Daniel follows, landing in the middle.

“Shazam!” I laugh, jumping for the center. I land on top of him, and the two of us burst out laughing. He grabs me by the waist and tickles me in the ribs, and I giggle even harder.

When we’re all jumped out, laughed out, and giggled out, we climb out of the bounce house. Daniel offers me his hand, even though I totally don’t need it.

I take it anyways. “Thank you, Coach.”

“You’re welcome, Captain,” he grins back.

Emmy skips between us, swinging our hands in her own tiny ones. “I like you,” she says to me, grinning. “You’re just like Daniel said.”

“Thanks, Emmy, I like you too,” I look over her head to Daniel, who looks to his feet, his cheeks bright pink.

Daniel’s mom is an absolute spitting image of Elisa. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she gives me a warm hug, and I give her a wide smile. We drop off a happily chatting Emmy with her mother then the two of us head over for the cotton candy stand.

“Here,” Daniel hands me a stick, ripping off a piece of pink candy floss for himself. I hesitate. Coach Chavez’s orders. He notices my hesitation right away. “Come on,” he grins, “I know you want some.”

I smile and shake my head, pulling off a piece and placing it on my tongue to melt gooey, sugary pinkness. Cotton candy never tasted better.

We share the stick, sitting on the church hallway rug, as workers fold down booths all around us.

“So, Indianapolis Colts, huh?” I smile at his navy blue football sweatshirt. “Florida boy doesn’t go for Gators?”

He grins. “Massachusetts girl doesn’t go for Red Sox?”

“I’m from California!”

“I know that,” he laughs. “I’m just messin’ with you.”

“I hope it was all good stuff,” I say after a while of silence, stuffing a piece of pink candy in my mouth.

“What?”

“What you’ve been telling your family, I hope it was all good stuff.”

“Oh, that,” he blushes, looking down at his hands. “I don’t know what they’re talking about. None of that’s really true. Except maybe the wallpaper part.”

“Oh, I was sort of hoping it was.”

“Really?” He looks up at me, his brown eyes wide.

“Mhmm,” I nod with a slow smile. “You know, I tell my family ‘bout you too.”

His eyes light up and he dimples. We sit there, ripping pieces of candy off. “I’m glad you could make it, Madi.” Daniel finally looks over at me, his brown eyes shining. “I had a great time with you.”

“Thanks,” I say, ripping off the last piece of cotton candy. “I did too.”

And for the first time, I feel a tiny taste of this joy.

Thanks for reading everyone! Keep checking for more updates, and don't forget to leave your comments and feedback below. God bless and shine on, my stars!

Blessings,

Karisa