Dreams of Shadows: The Amelia Chronicles
Patrick Sean Lee
Paperback
(Independently published, Sept. 23, 2019)
Dreams of ShadowsChristmastime, 2020.With a sudden, nuclear-like flash of light, the population of the planet is decimated. Every living human, save one Amelia McDougal--a 15 year old girl living in Marysville, California--has perished. Or so the young girl thinks in the aftermath until she meets Munster Gardella, a devil-may-care boy her age. Their days are filled with scavenging, wandering through the small neighborhood they once called home, and wondering what happened that caused the calamity. They get their first clue when a strange, ominous, vapor-like being emerges from the shadows near a now-deceased friend's home, and then pursues them. Taking refuge inside a church rectory, Amelia and Munster discover two other survivors—a brother and sister hiding inside a closet. And then later that night, two grisly-looking adults bent on doing them harm. Munster rescues the three young would-be victims, and fearing more of the same in the city, they strike out in search of safety elsewhere. The four kids stumble upon a huge house set back in an orchard, miles south of the city limits, and there Munster sees a flash of light from a window. Friend or foe? Munster decides to investigate, and that is when the nature and meaning of what happened to the planet begins to unfold in the terrifying, yet strangely promising days and events that follow.