T is for...The Traveler by Bree T. Donovan

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Since I cannot describe this lovely story better, I'll let Ms. Bree T. Donovan do it herself:

Tra`, short for Tra`lee was a very special person that I had the honor to know and love for seven short, wonderful years. The best years of my life. Tra` not only dreamed of an ultimate peace for his country, Ireland, but actively worked to fight against the forces of violence. He lived life with passion and died too young. This is an excerpt from the novel based on his life that I hope one day will be published.

 T is for...The Traveler

          Fionn walked alone through the early morning mist, his feet sinking into the soft mud of the bog. The land lush and mossy green. Heather bloomed like a wild, crimson-haired maiden traipsing through a meadow. The purple moor grass and other rare plants had been going through the cycle of growth, death and life on Ce`ide hill for almost five thousand years. Fionn loved these fields. They were the perfect embodiment of Ireland; her mystery, greatness and beauty. The Ce`ide fields were buried for almost fifty centuries, and each patch of grass his foot touched down on released whispers from the past, like the stones that had been hidden under the silent earth.

His tweed coat opened slightly while the breeze swirled the specter-like fog. The scarf around his neck provided the extra warmth he needed on this cold, gray Irish morning. There was no one else to offer companionship or distraction. His heart ached with the familiar pain of yearning to be with his lady, and the stark knowledge of what his journey back to her would involve. He had so often walked this familiar path in contemplation and preparation for his next assignment. He was never afraid. He simply wanted to summon up the reserves he would need to play a part that was so foreign to his true nature.

Once, when in Belfast, he had witnessed a terrorist gun down a man while walking with his sons to market, leaving the horrified children alone on the sidewalk with their dying father. Fionn carried the mental picture of the two boys’ petrified faces, and the sound of their lamenting sobs. From that moment, Fionn decided his own life was expendable if it meant that he could save even one child from suffering such an experience. Fionn wasn’t aware that his fury shone with a disturbing brightness in his eyes- the emerald sparks they emitted served only to make him more convincing to his enemies. They thought he shared their same fire and rage. They thought he was a true believer in the cause.

Fionn stopped walking to look out across the beautiful landscape that was his home. He had traveled to many places in his short lifetime, but Ireland was always in his heart. Like a mother beckoning to her child, Erin always called him back. Filling his lungs with the sweet morning air, the scent of burning turf and fires being stoked in the hearths of nearby cottages entered his body like the warmth of a lover. In that instant Derry’s face flashed before him. The young, American girl with the voluminous red hair, and sad, dark eyes. Fionn could see her as if she was walking towards him, but it was only the whirling vapors coming up from the bogs.

It was not an easy love for Fionn, paradoxically, all the things that pulled him to her, were all the things that should push him away.

****

Bree Donovan has worked as an educator, in the social service field and in animal and environmental protection. Once having dreams of being a musician and/or actress, Bree spent a good portion of her life living and working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Making the decision to return to university to complete her degree greatly impacted Bree’s life. The study of Psychology, Philosophy and Religion redirected Donovan’s dreams towards being more directly involved in helping others.

Buy it HERE!

Donovan’s first attempt at book publication was a most rewarding experience. In 2008, Bree wrote and published a YA book about the late, great Olympian and runner, Steve Prefontaine. The Pre book exposed Bree to people, places and ideas that fueled her desire to become a serious writer. Bree hopes her writing will reflect the struggles, and joys of not only her own life, but all those she has encountered who have impressed and inspired her.  The country of Ireland holds an almost sacred import to Donovan who considers herself very published by IFWG.

Visit Bree’s Blog: http://1mermaidmusings.blogspot.com/

Authors Page: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/breetdonovan