In college I dated this guy named
Sam. Sam was a pretty cool guy that had
a pretty big liking for watermelon. In fact, Sam liked watermelon so much he
wrote watermelon poetry. He even wrote me a watermelon poem that highlighted all
of the summer nights we spent walking hand-in-hand to the ice shack and eating
– you guessed it … watermelon snow cones. “Hey, Hey Little Texas…”
*sigh* I really wish I hadn’t
thrown those poems out with the trash.
But like all first loves (okay,
maybe he was my… tenth), our nights holding hands and taking long walks while
enjoying watermelon flavored ice finally came to an end. It was a difficult
departure, one that ended with a broken promise by him, and an English essay written
by me…
A Watermelon Love Gone Bad.
Talk about an understatement. I
should have known by the little hints that he was giving that things were on
the downside; his annoyance when I’d sing to the radio; calling me a second
grader when I held him a little too long during a goodbye hug. But it was when
he told me he couldn’t go to Homecoming because of his photography assignment
for the school paper, and how he encouraged me to go with someone else that was
the dead give-away. So I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised when I
arrived at the dance with a blind date and saw Sam on the arm of the girl that
asked to borrow my car to drive to the city so she could buy a dress for
Homecoming, huh?
*sobs*
Sam was probably the first real
love that ripped the ever-loving heart from my chest. It was an open wound I carried for months.
Not even the perfect grade on my watermelon love essay could heal the wound Sam
had caused. My sadness, though, eventually turned to bitterness, a deep bitterness
for the name Sam that I didn’t even realize I had until I learned the main
character’s name in Dead Harvest by
Chris F. Holm.
Sam. Sam Thornton… the soul
collector.
Suffering from consequences of
past mistakes, Sam Thornton has been sentenced to a life of collecting souls marked
for eternal damnation, a cold and thoughtless job for the most part. You would
think a soul collector would be just as cold as the job he’s been assigned to
for the rest of eternity, but Sam… seems different.
“The truth is, there’ve been thousands… Some spend their lives in fear
of the moment, and catch my scent a mile away; they beg, they plead, they
scream. In the end, it doesn’t matter – I always get what I came for. And I
remember each and every one of them. Every face. Every name.”
It was that very paragraph that
made me like Sam. It was those words - his thoughts - which made me realize
that regardless of his current situation, Sam Thornton… has a conscience. If he
didn’t have that, Sam would have no reason to remember every face and every
name of every soul he’s collected. But he remembers because he’s been where
these people are. He’s had his soul taken himself. And every soul collected is
a reminder of the past deeds that put Sam where he is today.
The soul collecting is the
consequence of choices made; daily realities so to speak, even a necessity. But
the normal day-to-day soul collecting takes a different path for Sam when the
soul that he’s been sent to collect blinds him with its pure light. Kate
MacNeil may have been marked for damnation, but with the beauty that Sam has
just witnessed, he’s certain that the assignment to collect Kate’s soul is a
mistake. And it’s a possible mistake that Sam can’t ignore since collecting the
soul of an innocent is a serious offense- one that could cause some serious
fighting between Heaven and Hell.
But whether or not Kate’s soul
was improperly marked for damnation isn’t the only issue standing before Sam. Sure,
taking the soul of an innocent might start a war between Heaven and Hell, but not
taking that soul will start a more personal war against Sam, since he’s not
really in a position to tell the demons that rule that he won’t be following
their orders.
But, yet… Sam does just that.
Still a believer in doing what’s
right, Sam takes Kate on the run to battle demons, past memories, and a
replacement collector to snag Kate’s soul. In the story you’ll read about the
murders that marked Kate for damnation, Sam’s struggle with his past as he
uncovers the hidden secrets behind Kate’s demise, demon deals and murder, and the
extraordinary sacrifice of a creature that was once an angel – before the Fall.
Yeah, Sam might not be the most
worthy in the group, but watching Sam turn from being Kate’s soul collector to
her soul protector … well, damned or not, I’d let Sam Thornton snatch the soul from my
chest any day of the week. And... I'd definitely let him snatch the soul of the guy I dated in college.
