My guest today is author Lily Sawyer, with an excerpt from her new release, From the Depths, just out from Silver Publishing! Congratulations, Lily, on the new release. -Shira
*************
This story struck a personal chord for me. I suffer from depression and I felt this subject just doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I am hoping my story shed some light on a condition that’s very misunderstood. -Lily
Blurb: Harry Goldberg appears ordinary. But he secretly suffers from depression–leading life alone except for his cat. Then Harry meets a new delivery man where he works–someone he is attracted to. Can anyone love him–emotional baggage and all?
Excerpt:
Harry had a wonderful job; he worked at a deli on Long Island. He loved to watch the looks customers gave him when he served them his special mile-high sandwich. Despite the huge piles of hot pastrami and corned beef on rye with a pickle and coleslaw on the side, they somehow left a clean plate.
The people around Harry told him that he was a likeable kind of guy with a great sense of humor. All his co-workers loved him. Truth was, he had them all fooled. When he left the deli at the end of the day he went home to an empty apartment; his only company, aside from assorted houseplants, was his cat. Tom was a grey and white shorthair Harry had rescued from the local pound. No one knew about Harry’s lonely existence, just like they didn’t know he suffered with depression. The only ones who knew, aside from his immediate family, were his counselor and a support group he went to from time to time.
Most people thought it was just the blues; at least that was what his parents thought at first. His mom was the worst. When Harry was fifteen, he’d buried himself in his bed and wouldn’t come out. She kept telling him stop being lazy, get his ass out of bed, and snap out of it.
Unfortunately, they didn’t understand what it was like to feel as he did. No one knew how much Harry wanted to be normal; he didn’t want anyone’s pity. No one could know the deep pain he felt. Some days it got so bad he just wanted to lie down, go to sleep, and never wake up.
* * * *
Nicholas could never stand being cooped up inside some stuffy office building. Nope, that was never going to happen. So when his uncle offered Nicholas a job with his delivery company after he graduated high school, he jumped at the chance. That was almost ten years ago–driving a truck was in his blood now.
Stern’s trucking specialized in delivering kosher food to all the Jewish delis and kosher markets on Long Island and in the five boroughs of New York City.
He checked the manifest; there was a new restaurant on the list. He’d been to Carle Place before but never to Nosh Deli. But a job was a job. He’d done so many deliveries he could do them in his sleep.
He loaded up his truck in Queens Village and headed east to Long Island. He took the local roads, completely avoiding the Long Island Expressway.
* * * *
Harry was handling the lunch-hour-rush crowd. He’d lost count of how many pastrami and corned beef sandwiches he’d made and how much homemade coleslaw and potato salad he’d scooped out onto the plates.
“Can I have a chicken on whole wheat bread, please?” Harry stopped his automaton-like movements, taking notice of the customer behind the voice–a blonde woman who appeared to be in her thirties, dressed in business attire.
“Bless you. Thanks for breaking the monotony.”
She laughed. “You must get tired of the same old orders every day.”
Harry was on the receiving end of that brilliant smile. The woman seemed to be flirting with him. He had to admit she was an attractive woman. He noticed there was no ring on her left hand. There was one problem, though–Harry was gay. He’d known that girls didn’t do anything for him that way since he was fourteen. It was one more thing his mother had nagged him about–dating women–until he came out to his parents. He couldn’t say they were thrilled, but at least they didn’t throw him out of the house. They just didn’t talk about it. Besides, Harry hardly ever went out. He had one experimental encounter with a buddy in high school. They had given each other a hand job and that was
that.
Harry’s self-esteem was in the basement. Who in their right mind would want to date a guy who was a killjoy? Depression robbed Harry of being able to really enjoy life. He was glad no one at work was aware of the sad sack in their midst–and no one would find out if he could help it.
He buried himself in work, fixing orders for people like the woman who stood before him–he wouldn’t let anyone get too close.
*******************
About the Author:
Lily Sawyer has to credit her late mother for her interest in reading and writing. She used to take her to library and opened up to her the world of books. She took a writing class in an adult enrichment program and got hooked. She started off writing stories set in various fandoms she was interested in like Star Trek and Brokeback Mountain. After
getting some encouragement from family members and friends, she finally decided it was time to write her own original stories. Lily recently returned to drawing and was in an art class. Also loves to garden and loves everything about nature. Including going to the beach and looking up at the stars
You can find Lily on her website: http://lilysawyerbooks.blogspot.com/
1 comment