Most writers draw on people, events, places or objects as inspiration for their stories…and so do I.
For my Christmas story, "A Christmas Visitor", in this
year’s Prairie Rose Publication holiday anthology, SWEET TEXAS CHRISTMAS, I needed to have something
for my hero to redeem himself to the heroine for his two year absence. It had
to be something that took thought, time, and effort on his part…and it had to
be something out of the ordinary, something lovingly special.
Just so happens I have a rather unusual box on my
dresser which I bought some years ago at a shop that sells handmade items from
around the world. This box is carved to represent two fish swimming in opposite
directions like the astrology sign for Pisces. The special thing about this box
is it is a puzzle to open it. It takes some twists, removal of pieces in a
particular order, and some sliding movements to get to whatever treasure
inside.
Puzzle boxes, known as himitsu-bako were first invented
during the Meiji Period by three artisans, Takajiro Ohkawa, Tatsunosuke
Okiyama, and Mr. Kikukawa who lived in Hakone, Japan. Hakone was a favorite
tourist town and soon the small trinket boxes became popular. The boxes became
bigger and more elaborate and soon became known as sikake-bako (trick box) or
tei-bako (clever box).
Japanese puzzle boxes can only be opened by someone who
knows or can figure out the correct sequence to unlock the secret compartment.
Simple boxes may have as few as four moves while the more elaborate designs may
take as many as sixty moves to open. The sequence, at first only known to the
craftsman, is essential to solving the puzzle and getting into the secret
compartment.
My hero in "A Christmas Visitor", Sterling Thoroughgood,
comes from a family of carpenters and woodworkers. Although Sterling has chosen
cattle ranching as his life’s profession, he is also a woodworking artist. He
creates a puzzle box for Matilda and inside its secret compartment is something very special, something he hopes may win Matilda’s hardened heart.
SWEET
TEXAS CHRISTMAS is
an anthology of sweet historical western romances that take place in the state
of Texas written by veteran western romance writers: Stacey Coverstone, Sarah
J. McNeal, Cheryl Pierson, and Marie Piper.
(my contribution) A Christmas Visitor
Prairie Rose Publications
Released November 5, 2017
He left her…Now he’s back…But not for
long…
Sterling
Thoroughgood was Matilda Barton’s first and only love, but he left her three
years ago to seek his fortune in Wyoming. And now he’s come back with a puzzle
box as a gift with a secret inside. But as far as Matilda’s concerned, it’s
three years too late.
Is love lost
forever or does the mysterious puzzle box hold the key to happiness?
Excerpt
(from the opening):
“Don’t you even think about stepping up
on this porch, Sterling Alexander Thoroughgood, or I’ll shoot a hole in you big
enough for a team of horses to jump through.” The woman wearing a faded blue
calico dress aimed the shotgun straight at his heart…and sometimes his liver
since she wasn’t holding the shotgun all that steady.
Sterling raised his hands in the air.
His bare hands were practically numb from the cold. He glanced up at the slate
gray sky. Snow’s comin’. Then he
grinned at the woman holding the shotgun. “Merry Christmas to you, too,
Matilda.”
She dipped the shotgun for just a
moment, but raised it again as if on a second thought. “What do you want here
after being gone for three years? Did you break some hearts up in Wyoming?
Maybe you have some fathers and brothers gunning for you and you thought you’d
come running back here to hide.”
Well, there it
was. He’d hurt her when he left and she wasn’t about to let him forget it.
Excerpt (Sterling gives Matilda the
puzzle box):
When she glanced up to ask Sterling how
to open the box, he stood before her with a grin spread across his face. Before
she could ask, he answered her unspoken question. “It’s a puzzle box, darlin’.
There is a way to move the pieces to open the box. It took a while for me to
draw up the plans and quite some time to get it to work just right. I thought
about what pleasure it would be for you, so I was determined to make it just
right.” The light of pride fairly glowed in his eyes.
“It’s a beautiful thing like a work of
art. That it is made into a puzzle box with such intricacy and thoughtful
design, makes it the most significant present I have ever received.” She heard
something shift inside the box when she moved it to examine it more closely to
discover how to open it. “There’s something inside?”
Sterling nodded his dark head. “Yes. In
fact, the greater gift is inside the box.” Again, he grinned with a boyish
delight. “I made it big enough to hold all your treasures. Do you like it?”
“Oh Sterling, I positively adore it. I
can see the craftsmanship you put into it. I didn’t know you could create such
a beautiful thing.” She smiled. “And I am so delighted to know you made it with
me in mind. Would you open it for me so I can see what’s inside?” Matilda tried
to hand him the box, but he shook his head and refused.
“No ma’am. You must discover how to
open it yourself. That’s half the fun.”
Sarah
J. McNeal is a multi-published author of several
genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She
is a retired ER and Critical Care nurse who lives in North Carolina with her
four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides
her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several
instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and
short stories may be found at Prairie Rose Publications and its imprints
Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press. She welcomes you to her website
and social media:
