DiAnn Schindler

Just A Girl DiAnn Schindler

Just A Girl: A coming-of-age novel about innocence, isolation, love, heartbreak, and discernment. "Just A Girl" was ranked 6th BEST coming-of-age fiction in 2017 by Amazon. Paula still had the dentist's cotton ball in her mouth as she walked with her daddy and older sister, Rachel, to the center of the Main Street Bridge. The early morning storm had been severe and waves continued to crash against the moldy, aged concrete. Dingy clouds, swirling winds, and the filthy water sprayed by speeding cars added to the eerie and frightening scene. Paula's heart raced with both fear and excitement. She couldn't help herself, she just had to look. Too small to see over the bridge barrier, she poked her head through the narrow space between the concrete posts to see roaring muddy waters surging logs, branches, and trash. She spat the ball out of her mouth and watched as the stiff breeze push it sideways, down, lower and lower, as if in slow motion, until it disappeared before reaching the water. When she nearly lost her knitted cap to a sharp whack of violent wind, Paula quickly ducked back in from the opening and put her hat back firmly on her head just in time to see her daddy pick up her sister. Holding Rachel by the armpits, he lifted her up, high over the barrier, suspending her in midair above the thrashing river water below. Eyes wide with terror, Rachel screeched, begging him to put her down. His eyes betrayed a subtle grin. Paula was terrified. Any movement might make her daddy lose his grip. He continued to dangle Rachel. "Please, Daddy, stop. Please, put her down," Paula pleaded. A moment later, he put her down safely. Rachel, face wet and flushed, stood stiff legged, fists in her mouth, muffling her sobs. Paula's trembling body began to calm when, suddenly, she felt herself being raised over the bridge. She stopped breathing. Paula thinks to herself, "No! My Daddy would never drop me...let me drown. He wouldn't kill me." ------------------------------------------ Even as a young child, before she has the words, Paula knows she is not like her family and would never act like them. Why is her sister mad at her all the time? Her mother whimpers and cries, but Paula knows she isn't sad, really. Why does her daddy grin when he dangles her sister over the Greater Miami River? As she grows up, rather than rebelling, Paula separates herself and becomes an observer of the antagonistic melee. At 17, eager to escape a suppressive environment, Paula leaves her home in Ohio and moves to Washington D. C. to work for the FBI. She is confident she will not be like her family and make stupid, emotional choices and poor life decisions. Or, so she thinks. "Just A Girl" is a girl-to-woman story steeped in emotional highs and lows, secrets, and suspense, and is meant for those who have struggled to overcome challenging childhoods, only to face a new set of adversities created by their own doing. * Contains adult content *Get your copy today!