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    The Crumbling Brick: Book 1 of the Land of Neo Trilogy
    The Crumbling Brick: Book 1 of the Land of Neo Trilogy
    The Crumbling Brick: Book 1 of the Land of Neo Trilogy
    Ebook76 pages1 hour

    The Crumbling Brick: Book 1 of the Land of Neo Trilogy

    By JoHannah Reardon

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    About this ebook

    Ella is a bored, inner-city girl trying to fill the long, monotonous days of her summer vacation. As she keeps a promise to her mother to clean the cellar, she discovers a crumbling brick behind an old trunk. Even though it’s raining outside, sunlight pours through the opening. Intrigued, she chips away at the brick to find the source of the light.

    To her astonishment, she finds another land beyond her cellar wall, gripped in the freshness of spring. In the land of Neo, she makes new, unusual friends, discovers breathtaking beauty, and learns of Kosmeo who will guide and direct her during all of her adventures.

    She discovers Kosmeo has brought her here for a purpose. Princess Onyma must choose a suitor who will eventually rule all of Neo. Many of the citizens of Neo are threatened during this perilous time of choice between good and evil. Can Ella save this beautiful kingdom from disaster?

    THE CRUMBLING BRICK is in the tradition of C.S. Lewis's and George MacDonald's fairy tales.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJoHannah Reardon
    Release dateJun 16, 2011
    ISBN9781458058201
    The Crumbling Brick: Book 1 of the Land of Neo Trilogy
    Author

    JoHannah Reardon

    JoHannah Reardon was born in 1953, and grew up in rural Illinois, the youngest of five. At various times in her adult life she has lived in Indiana, North Carolina, and now resides once again in Illinois. She has spent time in England, China, Mexico, Canada, and the Philippines. JoHannah is the managing editor of ChristianBibleStudies.com, an online Christianity Today Bible study site where more than 100,000 leaders, students, and teachers come to learn and apply God's Word. Besides co-writing and editing nearly 1,000 Bible studies, JoHannah has published seven novels and one children's devotional. She has ghostwritten two books, written content for the Couples' Devotional Bible, and contributed to two separate Bible study series published by Standard and Thomas Nelson. She is also a contributing editor for Kyria.com, an online site for women who want to go deeper in the Lord. JoHannah is a pastor's wife, the mother of three, and a grandmother--all three her favorite roles in life, even though she's crazy about her work.

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      Book preview

      The Crumbling Brick - JoHannah Reardon

      THE CRUMBLING BRICK

      JoHannah Reardon

      Published by JoHannah Reardon at Smashwords

      Copyright © 2011 by JoHannah Reardon

      Discover other titles by JoHannah Reardon at Smashwords.com

      Cover photo by anankkml, freedigitalphotos.net.

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      ONE

      THE CRUMBLING BRICKS

      Ella, is your room clean? called the worn, tired voice from the bottom of the stairs.

      Yes, Grandma. Ella’s voice rose as if she was yelling through a megaphone, hoping her grandmother would hear and leave her alone. School was bad enough but summer vacation was even worse. To be twelve and have nothing to do but clean her room seemed unbearable. Ella and her mother lived in the city in her grandmother’s apartment so things had to be done Grandma’s way. Since her mother spent all day at work, it was up to Ella to do Grandma’s bidding.

      Ella kicked the big stuffed bear that sat at the foot of her bed. Sometimes she missed the days when she could hug him and find company in his worn brown fur. He was no comfort today and even made her angry for looking so satisfied when she felt glum.

      The rain pounded the window as Ella pressed her nose against the glass. The traffic on the street was thick as usual, although the water muffled the engine noise. She sighed as she turned to look around her room, staring at a poster on her wall portraying a unicorn drinking from a brook, his long mane brushing the water. Behind him loomed a huge castle, as grand as any in real or fairytale life. As she gazed at the picture, Ella's heart ached with a great longing that she didn’t understand. Why did beautiful things hurt as much as they caused pleasure?

      She plodded down the stairs to see what Grandma was up to. She peeked in the kitchen and noticed her dealing the cards out into a game of solitaire. Come sit down and play some cards with me.

      No thanks, Grandma, she tried to answer cheerfully. She thought if she played one more game of rummy, she’d scream.

      Suit yourself. You’d better start on the cellar then or your mother will have a word or two for you when she gets home.

      I hate that place. It’s dark and damp and smells like something died down there.

      Grandma laughed. I suppose that’s why it needs cleaning – sooner started, sooner done.

      Ella knew better than to argue with Grandma. She was easy to get along with unless she was defied and then she got that snap in her eyes that made you wish you were invisible. Ella almost marched down the basement stairs to the rhythm of Grandma shuffling the cards, the tap of her shoes, and the drum of the rain.

      As she brushed cobwebs out of her path, she decided to start with the far corner. It was the only place that wasn’t damp from the rain. She leaned over, bracing her foot against the wall to pull out the huge trunk in front of it. Upon giving a great heave, the trunk budged a fraction of an inch and Ella heard the old brick behind it crumble. Pretty soon the whole place would come down around their ears, she thought. Another tug brought the trunk closer. Ella gasped, letting go of the trunk, her momentum throwing her backwards onto the hard, muddy floor. As the trunk slid outward, bright sunlight poured from behind it.

      What in the world? How can there be sunlight coming through that wall? There’s only mud behind it. Ella's strength increased as her curiosity soared. With a powerful jerk, the trunk came sliding across the floor. She could now see that the brilliant light was shining through a disintegrated brick, the hole perhaps five inches wide. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an old hammer hanging on the wall. Grabbing it, she began pounding at the old brick as sunlight beamed on her through the bricks that had fallen apart.

      At last the hole was big enough to look through. Ella's heart fluttered as she saw green waxy leaves all about and smelled lilacs and apple blossoms. She dropped the hammer now and pulled the crumbling bricks apart with her hands, widening the space so that she could squeeze between them.

      Stepping out into a grassy area with the green waxy leaves surrounding her, she realized that she was behind a clump of bushes. Whirling to gaze at the place from which she had just come, she found it comforting to see the chipped brick lying about and the huge trunk sitting sideways in the old cellar. After brushing all the dust and dirt off of herself, she crept to a gap in the bushes to peer out. What she saw caused her to suck in her breath as if she’d caught her teacher kissing the mailman.

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