The Lodestar Contest

Delaware. Thursday morning.

Forty-something mom kisses husband and high school-aged son good-bye and excitedly heads north on the I-95 to pay a surprise visit to the twins, a son and a daughter, who are third-year college students in Massachusetts.

When she arrives, the mom finds her daughter frantic and torn over what to do about the apparent disappearance of her twin brother. The daughter hopes her brother is just being irresponsible, or maybe pranking her, but (a) that's not like him, and (b) her gut is telling her he's in some kind of trouble.

The mom tries to calm her daughter down, but she can't. Her daughter is ignoring her - as if she isn't there.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE SHE ISN'T.

The mom was involved in a car crash on her way to MA, and she crossed over immediately. It all happened so fast she didn't realize she had made the transition. She only figured it out when her already frantic daughter got the call with the tragic news from her dad.

The daughter didn't tell her father about her missing brother. She just didn't have the heart. Now she's on her own to straighten things out and find her brother - and to add to her building hysteria, time is of the essence because their father needs them.

Now that the mom realizes she's entered another dimension, she senses immediately the knowledge that is at her disposal. She clearly sees exactly where her son is, and he is indeed in danger.

The mom has to reach out to her daughter somehow in order to to help her find her brother -- and keep them both safe, while at the same time comforting her grieving husband and younger son.





  Carol St.Ann  

The Novel Workshop is a peer review group for authors.