Literary Fiction

172

A reckless prank gets thirteen-year-old Adam expelled from school. His father decides to take him along on a business trip to Manila, Philippines. Things drastically change when they leave the chaotic streets of the city for a river tour into the rainforest. A frightening incident inside Devil's Cave is interpreted by the native boatmen to be an evil omen. Adam falls ill. He is unable to escape from the intruder that seizes him. Things continue to go horribly wrong. Adam is taken to a remote mountain hut where Mabini and Durgo live a poor existence in a world unchanged by civilization. Each attempt to escape his peculiar captivity has deadly consequences. On the muddy banks of the buffalo pond, where Adam molds the clay, he finds peace and the strength to survive. His only friend, a scrawny brown mutt he calls Mud, helps him to understand that love sometimes means sacrifice.

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Author Melinda Keen

I
couldn’t tell them to take it back. They found the pitiful looking mutt on the side of the road. It was just sitting there watching the cars go by. Probably waiting for the person that dropped it off there to come back and get it. That thought pulled my heart down into my stomach, and I had to leave the room.
That scrawny brown pup reminded me of Mud and the secrets locked in my heart. I'd never told anyone about that other life I lived.
Even though it was a long time ago, I still remember everything. Every single detail. Even the things that I'd like to rip out of my head. I always have to take a deep breath to calm the uneasy feeling I get when I think about it.