This manuscript is completed at 49,000 words. Please contact me for more information.
Abby lives with her sister, Kristen, and Max, her four year old son. Her life scarred by the death of her parents. A life now consumed with bad habits, her heart full of guilt, hate and blame.
A hot summer day, Abby arrives home from work, baseball cap, t-shirt and jeans, mis-matched sneakers. There’s crying in the bathroom. She rushes in, Kristen holds Max, lifeless. Abby grabs her son, throws Kristen out. She bends over to lay Max down, blacks out.
Winter in New York City, Abby homeless, living in the streets. For years, musty blankets and a cardboard box are home. She shares an alley with Sam, “big guy”, former football player that had everything, then lost everything. Except his faith in God. And Mary, in her sixties, waiting for God to call her home. When He finally does, Abby blames God for making Mary suffer in the cold.
The next morning Jack appears in the alley. Nine years old, dark hair, bright blue eyes. A Little Slugger red jacket, relentless joy, prays for homeless.
Abby has a dream, sees her sister is in trouble. She has to find her, before God takes her too. With Jack’s help, they brave snow storms and the cold on a journey through the streets of New York. Along the way, Abby tells Jack about her past. Jack shows Abby what it means to pray for others. To pray for healing. To have faith in God again.
They find Kristen in an abandoned warehouse. She dies in Abby’s arms. Devastated, Abby curses God, then blacks out.
Abby wakes up in the hospital. Kristen is there with Max.
It was a dream, two days since Max almost drowned.
They go home, Abby tells Kristen about her dreams and visions, how a boy named Jack led her back to Jesus.
That night, a story on the news. The man responsible for killing her father fifteen years ago is sentenced to die the following day. The picture on the TV is Sam, big guy, from the alley in Abby’s dreams. Abby suddenly recognizes the calling God has put on her life. One simple act.
Abby goes to the prison. She tells Sam about her dreams, how he protected her in the alley. Abby tells him God loves him, forgives him. She forgives Sam, then leads him to Jesus.
Abigail Gardezi dies at home with Kristen and Max at her side. When the darkness is gone, Jack is there waiting, excited to see Abby again. Hand in hand, they start walking away. He asks her about how she found the strength to overcome tragedies in her life. After each question, he appears more like Jesus, and he answers, “That Was Me.”