Samantha Marie Ramsden has three brothers. Craig, John and Matt. When tragedy strikes their family, Craig takes on the task of becoming his siblings legal guardian. It’s hard enough being someone’s guardian, but when you’ve only recently entered adulthood yourself it’s almost impossible to know where to draw the line between sibling and ‘parent’.
This is made even harder on him when Sam starts to get close to a long time friend, Jason. It looks like their friendship could turn into something more. An idea that Craig has never been too happy with. Spanning six years, My Heart is Yours explores family, friendship, love and much more. As well as asking the question: Would you defy family for love?
Prologue
Five and a half year old Samantha slept in her white threadbare
sheets. Tonight the wind was coming through particularly strong from the cracks
in the wooden boards on her window. Her small body shivered.
The door creaked open and her mother entered. Sam had the
same blonde hair as her mother. Her eyes were her own though. Changing from
blue, to grey, to blue-grey, to green or any combination of these colors
seemingly simultaneously. Sandra’s hand approached her daughter’s shoulder and she shook her roughly
awake. The clock on the wall read three o’ clock in the morning. Sam rubbed her eyes. “Come on!” Her mother said as
she looked over her shoulder. “Get out of bed,
now!”
She grabbed a
hammer from the toolbox they kept in Sam’s room, went to the boarded up window and
started tearing the boards to the floor. Wood splintered through the air. “Go on.”
She gestured to the
window. “Get out. Go.”
Sam hesitated for half a second then climbed through. She
knew she couldn’t ask questions.
She got into trouble when she asked questions.
Sandra wiggled through the window; she cursed aloud as
the glass cut her shoulder.
“Don’t try to run away
from me!”
The hoarse shout
came from behind them. Sam’s father. Sam knew what it meant when he was like this.
Sandra pushed Sam into the car, ran to the other
side and jumped in. “Mommy.”
Sam said as they
went speeding past houses. “What’s wrong?”
“If you must know, your father’s more drunk than usual. He has a gun and
he says he’s gonna kill us.
Satisfied?”
Sam’s eyes widened as
she looked in the rearview mirror. There was a car right on their tail. Sam
stretched in the front seat to see who it was; she recognized the face of her
father. “Mommy!”
She yelled. Her
mother ignored her. “The only reason I’m taking you with
me is cuz as a single parent with no job I might get some money from the
government.”
“Mommy!”
She yelled again. “Otherwise I’d just let him kill
you.”
The car stopped,
jolted forward and stopped again. “Damn it. We’re out of gas.” Sam’s mom muttered.
Sirens wailed in the background.
Beside them, Sam heard the screech of tires. Blonder hair
hit Sam’s face as she turned her head toward the noise.
In the car beside them her father scooted across the front seats; his eyes wild
with rage. A flash of black came from
behind him. Sandra frantically tried to get the car started. Too late. An arm
shot out around her neck; holding her fast. Her husband held the shiny black
gun to her head and before Sam could scream from the sound, the trigger boomed
and her mother’s body slumped over on the steering wheel. Deep
red blood gushed out of her head forming a pool on the floor. ;
Amanda Leigh graduated with a BA in English and Communications and a double minor in Psychology and Creative Writing. During college, she worked on the literary magazine and loved every minute of it. She adores cats and has one named Sawyer - named after one of her favorite characters in Lost. Amanda enjoys reading, writing avidly in a journal, writing poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction, cooking, listening to music, singing, swimming and art - particularly photography. Amanda is a bit of a chocoholic and is slightly obsessed with office supplies. She has many ideas for stories so keep an eye out for more work from her.
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