CUTTING GREEN CORN by Howard Schwiebert

About CUTTING GREEN CORN by Howard Schwiebert

Imagine you narrowly escape death only to end up on an inexplicable journey, stalked by a killer. CUTTING GREEN CORN is a story not only about survival but also about why some don’t survive.

A young boy is the victim of a serious farm accident. As his body lay in the field, he goes on an inexplicable journey back in time. He embarks on a journey of discovery that becomes an effort to escape a killer. Can he survive or will the killer finish what began with the accident in the field?

This work of literary fiction is set in a clever plot of medieval historical fiction. It looks at how random events, choices we make, and fate, can determine who survives, and who doesn’t.

Chapter 1.

It was a great time and nothing else mattered, especially the challenges his sisters faced. It’s moments like those when it’s easy to forget that bad walks with good in this life. That some chance event or a choice we make, or a fate we are given to endure, decides which of those; bad or good, walks with us. Then, just by chance, Howard stepped one step too far backwards at the front of the wagon and in that instant, everything went from good to bad. There was nothing there to catch his step and nothing for him to grab to catch his balance. He fell directly backwards off the front of the wagon, and with a thud, landed flat on his back, directly in front of the left wheel. He hit the ground hard, disorienting him, and before he knew what was happening the first of the two wheels on that side of the wagon ran directly across his chest. The shock set in immediately, he couldn’t feel or hear a thing. Everything turned to a smokey-white and time stood still. The world closed in around him as if he was going to faint. But no one seemed to notice. Harold was bent over, ready to cut the next stalk. His brother and sister were playfully competing to see who could pick up the last stalk Harold had thrown on the wagon and his other sister, content in her task, focused straight ahead and continued to drive. He gasped for a breath but got none. He gasped again, saw the back wheel coming quickly and directly at his head, and when the black tread of the tire was just inches away, he closed his eyes and his world went black.

Chapter 3.

She was half-way across the room when he heard a loud bang, and the door swung open. Pieces of the door frame flew onto the floor and the door swung, bounced off the adjoining wall, then recoiled to close again. Before it closed, a man’s leg raised to stop it. Lucia stopped dead in her tracks and dropped the book on the table. Her father’s attacker, and now also the old man’s killer, bound through the door and with three long strides was directly in front of her, his arms outstretched as if he was going to embrace her. His arms closed around her back, and there was a spark of light that reflected off something shiny. Lucia’s mouth gaped and her eyes opened wide. The attacker’s hand-held the handle of a large dagger that was now buried deep in the side of her lower back and he held it there for a moment, looking directly into Lucia’s eyes. First, what appeared to be water, then blood, soaked her white cotton dress.
“RUN” she yelled loudly with all she could muster, and her attacker looked puzzled. He didn’t understand what she was yelling at him.
“Run” she tried to yell again, but it came out almost as a whisper and this time he knew what she was saying. He pulled the dagger out and her eyes rolled up into her head. She dropped to her knees and crumpled sideways to the floor. Her attacker spun quickly around and saw the back of a small boy running out the door. He pulled the battle ax from his belt, lifted it with both arms directly above his head, lunged forward with one leg for maximum effect, aimed for the middle of the boy’s back, and released it with all his might. It hit with a loud thud and stuck firmly into the top of the door frame, the handle hanging straight down.

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Author Bio:
Howard Schwiebert was born and raised in a small Ohio town of 600 people. He is the youngest of eight children, and neither of his parents attended high school. Both worked factory jobs to support their large family. Howard earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bowling Green State University and was the only one of the eight children to attend college. After graduation, he relocated to Arizona with his soon-to-be wife, and they began their life together there. They later relocated to Hawaii. He earned a master’s degree in business from the University of Hawaii and had a successful career there. He retired early as a Vice President for a large real estate investment trust and moved back to Arizona. He spent some years as a business consultant and then decided to dedicate himself to writing, painting, hiking, and family.

Through the years, several of his siblings died prematurely and as of this writing only two of the eight survive. The circumstances around those deaths provided the inspiration for writing this book, his first; and informed the author about some of the themes it explores.

Moreover, the author was involved in a serious farm accident as a young boy and he has often pondered questions about how and why children born into the same circumstance, end up on very different life paths, and why some survive, and some don’t. Although this book is a work of fiction, the author uses the farm accident to serve as the launch point for the book CUTTING GREEN CORN.