THE TOWERS FAMILY SAGA
        Episode 58
The Arizona wind rattled
the window of the small
condo office space.
Robert was focused on the
screen of his laptop.
He was checking the grit
of a scene in his book.
Minnie walked in with a
tray of sandwiches.
"You have been at that
desk for four hours," she
said, setting it down.
"The girls are coming over
for a family meeting."
Robert rubbed his eyes and
stretched his stiff back.
He felt the age in his
bones, but his mind was
sharper than ever before.
Virginia arrived first,
still in her blue scrubs
from the city hospital.
"I saw Dave Martinez at
the clinic today," she
said, sitting on a stool.
"He says the people on
the Rim are healing."
Robert felt a quiet sense
of relief in his chest.
The orange dust was no
longer a death sentence.
Dorothy and Shirley walked
in through the front door.
They were carrying boxes
of printed book proofs.
"The 6x9 layout is a hit,"
Shirley said with pride.
"The monospaced font is
easy on the eyes, Dad."
She showed him the cover
she made in Photoshop.
The Boom Lake logo was
perfectly in the center.
Barbara called them on the
speakerphone from the car.
"The distribution deal is
signed and sealed," she
announced to the room.
"We are moving books to
every shop in the state."
The Towers were no longer
the face of a scandal.
They were a family of
authors and publishers.
Minnie looked around the
room at her four girls.
They had survived the fall
without losing their souls.
"We paid the debt with
the jewels," Minnie said.
"But we bought our lives
back with this work."
Robert looked at his keys
and started to type again.
He was documenting the
restoration of their name.
It wasn't about the money
or the high-rise power.
It was about the truth
standing in the light.
The radical honesty was
their new secret weapon.
They didn't have to hide
the prison years anymore.
It was part of the story
of how they came home.
The desert night was cool
and the stars were out.
The family sat together
and ate their simple meal.
The steakhouse rub was a
hit with the daughters.
"This is better than any
gala," Virginia said.
Robert smiled and took a
sip of his black coffee.
The saga was a journey
from the dark to the day.
They were the Towers of
Arizona, standing tall.
Every line was a brick in
a house made of fact.
The future was a blank
page waiting for them.

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 www.boomlakeproductions.com
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    solartoys@yahoo.com