Fourth of July Tribute to Old Glory from Dusty Crabtree

Once a year, Americans celebrate their country. We've had some glorious times and some rough ones, and we're likely to see more of both before we get off the merry-go-round. But even while we might not consciously be aware of it, Americans are patriotic and pull together based on the country they love every time there's a need.

Recently, the storms and winds here in Virginia pulled our flag pole to a 60% angle or so. My husband and son spent last weekend digging out the pole and resetting it so we could fly our flag today.


So, what happens when you get a patriotic Word Wench in a contemplative mood? A poem about a tattered flag, of course. 

"The Tattered Flag"
                         By Dusty Crabtree
 

It flaps in the wind limply at one corner. The other corner is ripped to shreds, caught, hanging on a wire, dejectedly. Unable to break free.

It's been windy. It's raining. It's nobody's fault.
 

And yet…it just feels wrong.  The moment I see it from my car, a whimper escapes my lips.  A pain shoots through my chest.  It aches. I want to cry.  I might as well have witnessed a young kid being pushed down by a bully.  How could someone treat the flag this way?  A sense of injustice burns inside so strong that my world turns upside down.

Such  a strong emotion for such a simple inanimate object. But it's not simple, is it? It represents our country's life. Our freedom. Us. So, I guess...in a way...it isn't just an object treated with disrespect. It's a living and breathing representation of hope. And if that's torn and tattered, then what do we have left?

 

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I agree with her. Hope is a resilient thing. And sometimes we find it in the tatters.

Dusty is celebrating another big anniversary - the release of her novel Shadow Eyes.  

The idea for Shadow Eyes actually first came to me as a screenplay for a Christian horror movie, if there ever was such a genre. The movie would have been about a cast of intertwined characters going about their lives and making mistakes with dark, creepy shadows (demons) hovering around them, whispering to them, and influencing them to do evil things. Only the audience would see the shadows. The characters would be completely oblivious. A few years after I’d had that idea, my friend suggested I write a novel like the paranormal angel books we’d been reading and loving. I’d always loved the concept of angels and demons in stories and immediately thought back to that screenplay idea. I just continued tweaking it until I had the basic concept of Shadow Eyes – a 17-year-old girl who had this special ability to see the shadows and light figures when nobody else could.

Iris thought she could ignore the shadows...until they went after everyone she loved.

BLURB: Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier. Although she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon the arrival of three mysterious characters. First, a handsome new teacher whose presence scares away shadows; second, a new friend with an awe-inspiring aura; and third, a mysterious and alluring new student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a boyfriend. As the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, she must ultimately revisit the most horrific event of her life in order to learn her true identity and become the hero she was meant to be.

To read an excerpt from Shadow Eye's, please click HERE.
Watch Shadow Eyes book trailer on YouTube.
Shadow Eyes is available at all major online bookstores.

Learn more about Dusty Crabtree on her blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.

HAVE A GREAT 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!