While I am still working on my coming-of-age, romantic novel, Summer Girl, I have been thinking more and more about the possible 4th, full-length, installment in The MATEGUAS ISLAND Series and have begun fleshing it out in my head.

Today, I put the first 500+ words on virtual paper! I don’t have a title for it yet … so, I’m just calling it MATEGUAS 4.

Please note, for those of you who’ve read GHOSTS OF MATEGUAS, it starts off similarly, but, trust me, it’s not!

While this is still rough, I thought I’d share the draft of the beginning with you here.

MATEGUAS 4

He guided the car carefully up the circuitous coastal route. It was a typical California summer morning … sun hanging high above him in the azure blue sky as the rhythmic sound of ocean waves caressed his ears. He had the top down on his BMW convertible and he relished the feel of the crisp, cool sea air as he sped along the highway.

He checked the clock. He was making good time and would be at the hospital earlier than expected. He noted that his palms were sweaty, a physical indication of his nervousness. It had been so long since he’d seen her.

Three months’ earlier, his company had sent him to Indonesia for what was supposed to be a two-week trip to investigate problems they were having with the manufacture of a new personal tablet. The issue was easily solved and he’d made ready to come home. But another problem cropped up for him to deal with and that was followed by yet another, stretching the two-week trip into four weeks and then into eight, and so on. At the three-month mark, he’d had it and had told his boss, the company CEO, that it was time they bring him home. The CEO, knowing that the man’s wife was hospitalized in Northern California, reluctantly agreed and told him that there would be a hefty mid-year bonus waiting for him when he got back to Silicon Valley.

The timing of his return couldn’t have been more perfect. The day before he’d left for San Francisco, he’d received a text from the physician in charge of his wife’s case, requesting he come for a weekend visit as soon as possible. He was on his way there now.

The car’s navigation system interrupted his thoughts, advising that his exit was only a mile away. Slowing slightly in preparation for leaving the highway, his mind turned to the updates on his wife’s condition he’d received while he was out of the country.

She was improving, of that he was certain. The doctor advised that her mind was now back in the real world and that her sojourn on that cursed, imaginary Island off the coast of Maine was apparently over. However, there always seemed to be pieces missing in the reports, as if the doctor were deliberately hiding something. He wondered what it could be. Yet, even with this nagging doubt at back of his mind, he was cautiously optimistic. Maybe she’d be coming home.

His exit now loomed ahead and he guided the car onto it. The hospital was located a few miles ahead, just south of Mendocino, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The patients’ rooms all had commanding views and the beautiful, peaceful environment was touted as being part of the therapeutic experience.

He thought about this as he parked his car in the lot. Turning off the ignition, he stared at the brick facade of the building in front of him. It still reminded him of something out of an old horror movie. He smiled as an image of deranged, knife-wielding patients roaming the halls in bloodstained hospital gowns leapt into his consciousness. He wondered if those zombies would be comforted and consoled by the hospital’s wonderful ocean ambience.

Grimacing slightly, he took a deep breath, clearing his head of those frivolous thoughts. Now was not the time for dark humor.

He hesitated a moment, trying to calm the beating his heart, then, without further ado, locked his car and strode purposefully toward the entrance. It was time to see Karen.

********

And, that’s what I’ve got on paper so far. I have quite a bit more in my head and even have the ending there. How I get to the ending, is still a mystery that will, I’m sure, unravel itself in time.

Please let me know your thoughts on the contact form below!

As always, thank you, my gentle readers, for your support and encouragement. Without you, there would be no MATEGUAS ISLAND!