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Was There A Curse On Helen's Romantic Life?
The Third Man by Angela Sheffield is based on a true story. Read chapter one now!
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¿Qué tiene que ver conmigo? por Teófila Gottfried
Lo que leemos en la Biblia tiene que ver con todos los seres humanos, sean cristianos o judíos, ateos o agnósticos, budistas, musulmanes o adherentes a alguna de las filosofías o nuevas religiones que surgen en el mundo. ¿Por qué? Ver mayor información sobre este interesante libro.
Scripture of The Day - St. John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Escritura del día - San Juan 14,6
Jesús le dijo: Yo soy el camino, y la verdad, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.
Bibelstelle des Tages - Johannes 14,6
Jesus spricht zu ihm: Ich bin der Weg und die Wahrheit und das Leben; niemand kommt zum Vater, denn durch mich!
The Third Man by Angela Sheffield
Was there a curse on Helen's romantic life? Or was it just plain bad luck?
After one marriage filled with verbal, emotional, and physical abuse, Helen found herself divorced. And then wonderful Maurice came along and slipped an engagement ring on her finger. That anticipated marriage was interrupted when Maurice's ex-lover resurfaced and the ring came off Helen's finger. Through all of the heartbreak, Gracie, her long-time, faithful friend had stood by her. But was Gracie a true friend? Or was she more loyal to her sister Ethel, who was Helen's arch enemy?
The truth would be revealed when James came into Helen's life. The day he was introduced to Gracie is the day that everything changed. It looked as though this relationship was also about to crumble when James, the third man in Helen's life, hears of Helen's past as a prostitute. Could it be true? Or is it just one more thing on that unseen stage of life that has cast Helen into a role where she must fight for her happiness.
Main Characters of The Third Man:
James: James came from a wealthy family in the south. He felt he had to be especially cautious while looking for a wife to be sure he didn't land a gold-digger.
Lester: Lester had been James' best friend since kindergarten but harbored a secret jealousy against him. When he and James met Helen, Lester felt that "all is fair in love and war."
Gracie: Gracie truly cares for her friend, Helen. But forced to choose to whom she should be loyal, her heart said Helen, however, her mother's words: blood is thicker than water meant choosing her sister, Ethel over Helen.
Helen: Helen and Gracie had been friends since teenagers. Gracie had remained loyal to Helen through their adult lives until Ethel, Helen's arch enemy finally got her wish; the dissolution of Gracie and Helen's friendship.
The Third Man by Angela Sheffield - Chapter One
January, 1970
“Ma-aa-aa, I’m hungry!” Six-year-old Isaiah wailed grabbing his stomach and throwing his head back with a face full of frowns. His mother, twenty-five-year old Helen Taylor stared at her son’s dark brown, contorted face. Isaiah was known to express his likes, and dislikes in no uncertain terms.
“I know, Isaiah. We all hungry,” she answered. Helen then turned to look at her eight-year-old Daniel who never complained. Daniel, with his light brown skin, and wavy, black hair, looked nothing like his brother. Once again, the groceries hadn’t lasted 'til the end of the week. Furthermore, there was no coal to make a fire in the furnace. Helen tilted her head to one side letting her black, neck-length hair fall to one side as she stared down into Isaiah's face. Having just come in from work and her sons meeting her at the door, they all remained in the cold living room until Helen said, “Let’s go in the kitchen and see what we can find, okay?” She knew there wasn’t much, but she had to try to put together something for her kids' supper. She couldn’t just let her sons go to bed hungry. She had done that plenty of times as a child herself.
As they entered the kitchen, Helen let the blanket fall that hung at the doorway between the kitchen and living room. It would keep all the heat from the oven in the kitchen so they could be warm. The stove that cooked their food was also the only means of heat when there was no coal. They each slipped out of their coats and hung them on the backs of their chairs.
“Let’s see,” Helen said searching the cabinet shelves. Flour, baking powder, dry milk, and a bag of corn meal. “I know! I’ll make some dumplins’. That’s what my mother did when we didn’t have any food.” She tried to sound upbeat.
“What’s dunkin’?” Isaiah wanted to know looking questioningly at his mother.
“You know those long white things we had at grandma’s,” Daniel answered his brother. He touched the tips of his index fingers and spread them apart demonstrating the length of the dumplings his grandmother had made.
“They’ll taste good. You’ll see,” Helen cajoled. She blended the butter along with a little lard into the flour until it looked like her mother’s. She then added baking powder, salt, powdered milk and a little water. Helen rolled it out on a piece of waxed paper and cut the dough into strips. On the stove was a pot of boiling water. She dropped the strips into the pot, and waited at the table with her boys asking them about their day at school. The warmth of the oven’s heat felt good compared to the chill of the living room and bedroom. After a few minutes, Helen got up, lifted the pot top, and checked the pot's content. Big, white, swollen pieces of dough were swirling around with white foam on top of the water.
Isaiah looked around at his mother. “Is it ready?” he asked elbows propped on the table and legs swinging.
Helen, holding the top in the air, looked around at the boys.
“What’s wrong, mama?” Daniel asked.
“Nothing! Nothing.” She turned the stove off and scooped up the dumplings into a bowl, which she sat in front of Daniel. Isaiah, not waiting for his, stopped swinging his legs, and leaned to peer into his brother’s bowl.
“Uhh-h, what’s that?” he moaned. Even mild mannered Daniel raised his eyebrows and cut his eyes at his mother. Helen, ignoring Isaiah, sat a bowl in front of him and one for herself. She then sat down.
“Daniel, you want to say the blessing?”
“Thank you Jesus for our food. Amen.” Each waited for the other to be the first to dig in.
“Tomorrow when I get paid,” Helen said as she tried to cut into the thick dough with her spoon. “I’ll take you guys out for hamburgers. Okay?”
“Grandma’s dumplins’ didn’t look like this,” Daniel said shaking his head.
“You guys don’t have to eat it,” Helen said as she sighed and dropped the spoon into her bowl with a clang. “I’ll try to make some biscuits.” Her eyes watered as she rose, frustrated, from the table.
Isaiah, out of sheer hunger, bit into the white mass of dough. It was raw inside. “Uhh-hh.” He spit it back into his bowl and dropped his spoon. “I don’t want it. It taste nasty,” he said as he climbed down from the table, grabbed his coat and headed for the living room.
Helen stood motionless at the sink, her eyes brimming tears. Daniel went to his mother and gave her a hug. “I’ll try to make biscuits,” she said softly dabbing her eyes on her sleeve. The loud knock at the door startled Helen.
“Should I get it?” Isaiah yelled from the living room while heading for the door.
“Ask who is it first!” Helen called back as she made her way to the living room, Daniel at her heels.
Gracie Austin, Helen’s best friend was already in and moving her petite frame towards the kitchen just as Daniel and Helen emerged through the blanketed doorway.
“Girl, my husband got his income tax check!” Gracie blurted out with a big grin. She reached into her purse and pulled out a fistful of bills. “It was twenty-two-hundred dollars and Willie split it with me. I told ya’ I was comin’ back if I got some money,” she said with an affirming bob of her head. “C’mon, lets go eat!” Gracie was fully aware that each week before Helen got paid, she always ran out of food. Her two daughters, seven-year-old Lydia and five-year-old Ruth were waiting outside in a cab. Isaiah and Daniel jumped up and down clapping their hands and shouting, “alright!” They gave each other a high five. Daniel ran to the kitchen, put on his coat, and brought his mother’s coat to her.
They all climbed into the taxi and went to an ‘all you can eat’ restaurant. There was so much food they didn’t know where to begin: Fried chicken, barbecued chicken, broiled chicken, fried fish, baked fish, roast beef and ham. There was corn, sweet peas, green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy. There were a variety of desserts: Ice Cream, strawberry short cake, and chocolate cake. There was pumpkin pie, lemon meringue pie and banana pudding.
Gracie and Helen seated the kids all in a booth to themselves while the two women sat talking in seats across the aisle from them. When the meal was over, and before they left, Gracie reached into her purse, brought several bills to her lap, and counted out two-hundred-dollars. She loosely folded them and slid her fist containing the money across the table to Helen, who took it to her lap to count. She looked across the table at Gracie, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you,” she whispered, choked up.
(End of snippet from chapter one)
Copyright © 2016 by HeavenlyManna.net (Heavenly Manna Ministries). All rights reserved
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Based on true events, The Third Man by Angela Sheffield, brings the Bible up close and personal as the characters face real issues of life: Betrayal, deceit, romance, bitterness, anger against God, hopelessness, will power, perplexity, triumph, unforgiveness, mental illness, and the "Alcohol made me do it" excuse. Read chapter one FREE now.
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Comments/Comentarios:
I enjoyed reading "The Third Man". It was a quick read that kept my attention. I found myself wondering what was going to happen next, so I was anxious for the next chapter. The characters were interesting and the story moved along nicely. The book was a window into the life of a financially struggling but hard working single mom. I found myself cheering Helen on and hoping for a happy ending for her.
by: Mary Nelson
Posted on 2019-11-18 19:09:20
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