Welcome to my second Charity Sunday. In case you missed the debut of this feature lastmonth, it works like this. On the second Sunday of each month, I devote my blog to a specific charity or cause. I’ll talk a bit about the charity I’m supporting, plus give you links to find out more. Then I’ll give you a sexy excerpt. (I am, after all, an erotic author!) You’re invited to comment on the excerpt or the post.
For every comment I
receive, I will donate one dollar to the specified charity.
This
month, I’m supporting Rosie’s
Place, a women’s shelter and helping community in Boston,
Massachusetts. I’ve been a Rosie’s Place donor for nearly three
decades. They’re a hands-on demonstration of the power of love and
respect in action.
Rosie's Place was founded
in 1974 as the first women’s shelter in the United States. Their
mission is to provide a safe and nurturing environment that helps
poor and homeless women maintain their dignity, seek opportunity and
find security in their lives.
Today, Rosie’s Place not
only provides meals and shelter but also creates answers for 12,000
women a year through wide-ranging support, housing and education
services. Rosie’s Place relies solely on the generous support of
individuals, foundations and corporations and does not accept any
city, state or federal funding. Thanks to these donations, 88 cents
of every dollar raised goes directly to services for poor and
homeless women.
There’s so much I love
about Rosie’s Place: their deep personal commitment to women of all
ages and ethnic backgrounds; their understanding that helping women
means helping their kids, too; their creative programs to build
skills and self-respect, as well as to raise money; their recognition
that each woman has her own story and her own path, with no “one
size fits all”.
I’ve never been
homeless, but one of my good friends from university spent months on
the street. Although she was a brilliant young woman who’d been
accepted by an Ivy League school, she had a psychiatric condition
that required regular medication. If she went off her meds, she
started acting truly crazy. That was the genesis of her homeless
period. For some reason, I really identified with her situation. I
guess I realized we’re all susceptible to bad luck.
I’ve written a couple of
stories featuring homeless characters, and have several more roughed
out in my notebook. Here’s a bit from my holiday story Slush,
a holiday romance which is currently free
as part of Smashwords Summer Sale.
“You say you found me
near a fancy car? A silver Beemer?”
The kid pulled off his
mittens to warm his fingers over the flames. “Sorry – I wouldn’t
know. I really didn’t notice. I was busy trying to get you into my
cart.”
Ian patted the pockets of
his fleece-lined leather coat, then shrugged it off his shoulders.
Finally the place was starting to warm up. “Did you find my keys?”
He rifled the pockets of his soaked trousers, with increasing urgency
as he discovered every one was empty. “Where’s my phone? My
wallet?”
The youth looked up, face
rosy from the fire. “The muggers probably took ‘em. Anyone can
see you’ve got plenty of dough.”
Panic seized Ian by the
throat. His iPhone, his Cartier watch, his Hermes wallet, all gone.
No money. No credit cards. No way to communicate with the outside
world. “How – how do I know you didn’t steal them?” He lunged
toward the figure near the fire, sure he could shake his belongings
out of those rags.
That stare, stripping him
to the bone. That laugh again, like a crystal bell ringing in the
cramped, stuffy ex-garage. “Come on! If it was me who ripped you
off, why would I bring you back to my place?”
Drained by his sudden
exertion, Ian collapsed back onto the lumpy mattress. “Ah – um –
of course you’re right. Sorry. Thank you. I do appreciate your
help, really I do. I’m just tired, and disoriented, and so
thirsty...”
The kid retrieved a
chipped mug from one of the crates piled up against the wall, filled
it from a spigot above them, and handed it to Ian. “Here you go.”
Ian sniffed at the liquid
before he took a sip. It smelled a bit musty, but he needed it too
badly to care.
“I managed to score some
aspirin today, too. Think you could use it more than me.”
His host popped two white
tablets into Ian’s palm. He peered down at them, dazed.
“By Jesus! You think I’m
gonna poison you?”
“No, no, of course not.”
He washed the medicine down with more of the water. Somehow he felt
better already. “You’re very kind.”
The young man shrugged
once more. “Anyone would do the same.”
Not me. If I saw you lying
in the gutter, I wouldn’t look twice.
The thought gave him more
pain than the throbbing lump at the back of his head. Was it really
true?
“Lie down. Rest. You
hungry?”
Ian interrogated his
battered body. “Um – no, I don’t think so.”
“Well I am. Gotta get
out of some of these clothes first, though. It’s getting pretty
toasty in here.”
The kid yanked off his
woolen cap. Ian gasped as masses of fine golden hair spilled down
over those narrow shoulders.
“You – you’re a
woman!”
“Yeah – you didn’t
know?” Her peals of laughter made him blush with embarrassment.
Rage simmered underneath. No doubt she thought him a fool. It was so
obvious now – the slender body swaddled in second hand sweaters,
the little hands, the delicate features and fair complexion... But
who would have expected to find such a pretty girl in a place like
this?
“I’m sorry,” she
said, gulping air in an attempt to smother her hilarity. “I
sometimes forget. I’m not exactly a glamor queen these days.” She
gestured at her raggedy clothing. “You don’t mind if I take some
of this off, do you?”
Stunned, Ian shook his
head. She peeled off a stretched out hoodie, two sweaters and a
flannel shirt. After prying off her sneakers, she shed her baggy
dungarees. Now she wore nothing but off-white athletic socks, a
grass-green tee shirt and the scarlet long johns. Both of the latter
clung to her willowy form, making it quite clear there was nothing
underneath.
Despite his exhaustion and
the pain in his head, Ian’s cock stirred inside his damp,
hand-tailored trousers. You bastard, he thought.
She saves your life,
probably, and all you
can think of is
fucking her.
She didn’t notice. She
was surveying her own petite body, the green top and red bottoms.
“Wow,” she chuckled. “I look really Christmassy, don’t I?”
Her merriment was
infectious. “All you need is a pointy cap and you could be one of
Santa’s elves,” he told her.
Her face lit up with
delight. “Thanks. I’m Daisy, by the way. Should have introduced
myself before and spared you the shock.”
“That’s okay. My
name’s Ian.”
She fixed him with one of
those direct stares. Her eyes were gray, he noticed, not the
cornflower blue he would have expected given her hair.
“Maybe you should take
off your own wet things, Ian. Wouldn’t want you to catch pneumonia,
or anything – after all the work of dragging you back here!”
~~~
Head over to Smashwords
and get your own copy of Slush,
absolutely free. Before you go, though, I hope you’ll leave me a
comment. Remember, I’ll donate one dollar to Rosie’s Place for
every comment I receive. I hope you will help me spread the word, too.
15 comments:
Thanks for making this opportunity so easy to do something for the greater good. It's likely safety nets will be receiving less in federal funding for the time being. People have to find ways to do good without expecting much from those who pull the strings.
It warms my heart to read about people helping others. You rock, Lisabet, and so does Rosie's Place. PS I'm halfway through Damned if You Do. Love it!
Thank you for ur generosity in giving. I have been fortunate not to have been homeless thus far in my life. Being thankful this Sunday
This is a great idea and your story sounds wonderful too.
Everything you are doing ... is everything I should be doing. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
M. Millswan
Bless you for all you do!
What a wonderful idea, Lisabet! And I love the cover and excerpt of "Slush!" All the best!
Another worthy cause, Lisabet!
Thank you so much for telling us about Rosie's Place (and for SLUSH, of course!)
--Trix
What a wonderful idea to give to charity. Thank you for doing this. You are a really kind person.
So cool that you are doing this. Thank you for spotlighting Rosie's Place and for the excerpt of Slush.
nice to support
There but for the Grace of God, etc... thank you for bringing people down to earth with this wonderful story and making us thankful for what we do have.
What a fantastic, kind and sharing idea you have put in motion. I look forward to learning about your spotlighted charities. I hope this inspires other authors and writers to do something similar.
Wishing you continued success with your writing and other endeavors. Keep rocking the keyboards.
Thank you all for taking the time to comment. I'm off to donate $15 to Rosie's Place.
Please drop by this coming Sunday for Charity Sunday #3.
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