Vanilla Heart Publishing

The Women of Camp Sobingo by Marilyn Celeste Morris
Four
women of diverse backgrounds form a bond while en route to join their Army
officer husbands in
Their
experiences in a far-flung military compound strengthen three of the women, but
a fourth chooses to end her life there, and during a reunion twenty-five years
later, long-held dark secrets and sorrows are revealed.
The
Women of Camp Sobingo shares the story of four women; friends who share the
life of army wives in a strange land, with husbands who serve. Raising
children, making do, enduring hardships, these women survive - all but one...
There
really was a
The
camp had a school, a post exchange, a dispensary, a commissary, and even a
movie theatre (think “MASH”). Ever-present, however, was the military presence,
both Korean and our own US forces and the tyranny of the Russians located
across the 38th parallel, who merely annoyed the dependents with
their random denial of electricity to the American contingent.


Forces of Nature by Marilyn Celeste Morris
It
was going to be a two-shoe day.
Howard
the Weatherman woke with what he referred to as That Certain Dread and a bad
taste in his mouth, to boot. The
birthday party for his youngest granddaughter the previous evening was the
cause, even though it was just ice cream and cake and no booze, befitting his
solid Southern Baptist background.
The
feeling lingered on the fringes of consciousness until he was fully awake.
Glancing
over at his sleeping wife of forty years, he considered waking her and telling
her about his dream. No, he would
prepare for work first, and let
He
eased out of bed and padded into the adjoining bathroom. He allowed the shower head to spray stinging
hot water over his face and body, all the while he was reciting his usual
morning prayers: “Father, I thank thee
for this day that thou hast made. I will
rejoice and be thankful in it.”
He
continued with his intercessory prayers for his family and friends, and for the
nation as a whole. “And so I beseech
thee, Dear Lord, heed my prayers. I pray
in the name of my savior, Jesus Christ.”
Normally, his prayers would have ended at this point with a heart-felt
“Amen”, but this morning he added softly, “And Lord, if it be thy will, spare
us the agony of this day, and keep us safe from harm. Amen.”
“Morning,”
Howard
paused before replying, “Fine.” There was no sense in telling her now. “You?”
“Fine,
until you began tossing and turning.
What was that all about, Howard?” She sat across from him and studied
him over her coffee cup.
“Nothing. I don’t remember,” he evaded, knowing full
well what
“It’s
the dream again, isn’t it?”
He
sighed, then nodded. “I knew I couldn’t
keep it from you. You know me too well.”
She
smiled softly.
“Honey,
it’s going to be a bad one today.”
“They’re
all bad, Howard. Even small tornadoes
that don’t send people to the hospitals, or kill them. Property damage, schools, businesses, all
suffer.”
Howard
finished his coffee and shook off his wife’s gesture of handing him a plate of
bacon and eggs. “I’m gonna be late if I
don’t leave now. I should have the
official National Weather Service information the first thing when I get to the
station. Then I’ll have to butt heads
with our new station manager about interrupting the regularly scheduled
programs for weather bulletins.”
“It’s
going to be that big?”
“Stay
close to home today, honey. I want you
close to the cellar.”
Howard
wouldn’t have wanted it known that he had a “fraidy hole.” Having been born and raised in southwest
Howard
thought back to one particular day when he was still in high school. He had told his family early in the morning
that there would be a tornado that day.
His family had come to respect his gift, and they followed Howard’s calm
statement of fact: “There’s gonna be a
tornado sometime this afternoon."
