CRIES FROM THE HEART

As I work on the final edits of the novel Danny I think back to when the idea first began to form for the book.  There are complicated aspects I can discuss much later, but the idea of this novel still has a haunting reality.  The book is fiction.  The story is fiction.  The problems are real.  Abuse plays a part in the story of a young boy.

When we really think about child abuse and the consequences it can have, it is heart breaking.  I wanted to research to have accurate facts sharing the information on the subject, but today I could read no more.  Each little child has their own story.  Each little life is affected by the life they lead or endure.

There are many forms of abuse and or neglect.  Domestic abuse will tear at your heart.  Spousal abuse, elder abuse, verbal and physical abuse and even abuse on the internet.  A bully may seem harmless, but they bully others to gain power and do that with the hurt and harm their actions and words produce.  It takes a bully to abuse another.

I do not have all of the answers to cure such a problem.  I do feel that we first have to realize a problem exists.  So many times it is difficult to stand up for what we feel is right.  There are even times we suffer negative consequences when we do.  What are the consequences to our hearts though, when we do nothing about something we know or feel is wrong?  What are the consequences to the person helpless and suffering if the world turns a deaf ear and blind eye to their plight?

There are many kinds of consequences in life.  The novel Danny is about a child who suffers in a home life filled with abuse and neglect.  The consequences to him last a lifetime.  Trying to survive in situations of suffering may result in various damages or responses.  What happens to this child and what the results of his desperate attempt to survive is only part of the story.  What happens in the heart, mind and soul is something much deeper than a simple story.

What happens to those abused is also more than a story.  My book is fiction but there are real people and real children with cries from the heart suffering in many ways and often unheard, overlooked and unseen.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month   https://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preventionmonth/history.cfm

I had planned to be able to release the novel Danny before the end of the year,but with some health issues and other difficulties I was unable to accomplish that.  I wonder if maybe I was meant to wait, so that this book could help call attention to a problem that may be closer than we think.  We never know when we might run across another who suffers and has no one to turn to.  There may be a time for young or old that they have cries that go unheard.  If we can find a way to take the time and the ability to see, it might make a difference.  Even if it only made a difference for one, it might mean the world for that one person.

April will soon be here and be the National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  I will continue to try to learn and eventually relate some of the things I find, but could not today.  Seeing and hearing about abuse is difficult but realizing how much and to how many is heartbreaking.  Knowing there are cries that will forever be unheard and lives that are not lived in the joy of the day but fear of the day as they worry to survive and endure leaves me without words.  Knowing so many have died from the abuse of another is so wrong.

If you ask a blind man who has been blind from birth what he thinks of the beautiful colors of the setting sun, he will have no way to tell you or to understand what it is that you see.  A person who has never heard sounds before, knows not the beautiful sound of the birds chirping in the early morning or music that touches the soul.

I hope we do not become blind and unable to see things around us because they are painful or difficult.  I hope we never become mute with nothing to be heard for those who can not speak for themselves.  May we have the courage to speak what we know is right.  Even if we are simply taking the time to share a smile and kind word of encouragement it could make so much difference especially to the one sad, afraid or lonely.

I am going to work and find a way to have the final edits of Danny done to be released in April to help make others aware of a problem that may exist in many places and many people.

Danny is more than a story of an abused child.  It is filled with so much more but deep within the heart of this child is the hurt and loneliness of abuse and neglect.  I have shared the first chapter and hope to soon post more of the book before it is published.  I hope you will enjoy seeing what is to come and sharing this story of a boy you might never forget.