Scott A. Meehan's Blog, page 8
October 27, 2014
October 21, 2014
From- “The Flame in Paradise”
Recent events weighed heavily on fifty-nine year-old, Viktor Tamarov, a Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers member. The Cabinet, highest body of state executive power governing Ukraine, faced a monster on its eastern border. As former head of the Russian Special Operations Department and Afghan war veteran, Tamarov was selected as the Cabinet Secretariat, a position giving him control of military operations. Under normal circumstances, Article 116 of the Ukrainian Constitution governed his duties. These were not normal times.
Tamarov placed the red phone back onto its new micro-suction mobile Station Stand sitting neatly on his oak desk. Whenever he was in deep thought, Tamarov walked over to the floor to ceiling glass window and stared out at the Kiev skyline and Dnieper River. Stopping briefly to glance at the 24 hour analogue wall clock hanging like a giant eye on the beige European plant wallpaper, he saw that it was 13:45, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Tamarov’s eyes caught sight of the 8 x 10 picture frame of his daughter, Shararah, and his three grandchildren on the polished mantle. Even with the horrible news just delivered, he still managed a smile at the thought of them. Shararah, Asha, Seth, and Caleb, all smiling, stood behind the Bow of Tamarov’s super yacht, Vicem Bronko, docked on the Black Sea. The name, Flame could be seen below the rails.
His daughter and grandchildren had finally come to visit him on the first of June, a visit Shararah had promised him would someday come. They stayed only two weeks but it was one of the most memorable moments that Tamarov experienced in his life. Overjoyed at seeing his grandchildren for the first time, they quickly won over his heart and became his pride and joy. Twelve year-old Asha, reminded him of Shararah, and in some ways, his former wife; headstrong, independent, and beautiful.
You look just like your grandmother and mother, he had told her over and over. Tamarov chuckled at Asha’s response, which was always the same. Really? He always replied, yes, really. I tell the truth.
Staring out the window, he shook his head. Though a powerful and proud man who had seen the rigors of war in Afghanistan, he allowed a tear roll down his cheek. What is this world coming to? He thought.
After a deep breath, he walked over to his private white ceramic wash basin, decorated with solid brass spigots and washed his face. Looking into the mirror, he adjusted his black silk, Louis Vuitton neck tie, and departed his office. He would have to think of something astute, and quick. The Prime Minister had called an emergency meeting to discuss the disaster that had just taken place twenty minutes earlier, when a Malaysian commercial airliner was shot out of the sky by a Russian SA-11 surface-to-air missile launched by Russian backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. Initial reports indicated that all 298 passengers on board were presumed dead. Tamarov dispatched the Berkut, Ukraine’s special military police, in an effort to arrive ahead of rebel forces who reportedly were rushing to the fields littered with debris and bodies to confiscate any remaining evidence.
The whole world will know by now, Tamarov thought.
October 9, 2014
Coming soon! “The Flame in Paradise”
Shararah, the beautiful mother of three, is born again in America and living her dream. But, not all is well with her soul when today’s��headlines��directly affect her family. Special Forces husband, Ron, is asked to delay his retirement submission for��one more mission…a mission to help the Kurds in northern��Iraq confront ISIS. Shararah’s father faces his own crisis, as the Ukrainian Secretariat Minister, after receiving word about��a passenger airliner being��shot down by the Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. Shararah is tough, resilient, loyal, and committed to doing whatever necessary for her family’s survival.
September 30, 2014
“Heart, Soul, & Fire”
Love in the House of War
A Flame in Paradise
Asha-Protector of Fire
“Love in the House of War,” is the first of three books in a series called, “Heart, Soul, & Fire.” The saga begins when Special Forces medic, Ron Hawkins rescues Afghan nurse, Shararah from the Taliban. As they escape through the Hindu Kush Mountains, a beautiful, engaging romance and love develop between them. Will they survive and live their dream together?
“A Flame in Paradise” depicts the turmoil of today’s time as Shararah raises a family at Fort Campbell, Kentucky while her father, a prominent leader in Ukraine, faces the Russians, and her husband, is in northern Iraq helping the Kurds defend the Kirkuk oil fields against ISIS.
“Asha-Protector of Fire,” is about Shararah’s daughter, Asha, and her heroic efforts to keep her family together and alive.
September 22, 2014
The Road to Samangan
The landscape darkened rapidly, with the amber-tinted river slipping into blackness. The distant hills revealed scattering gleams of campfires. They left the area with Shara leading the way. As they moved along, Ron thought of and old hymn that came to mind from his younger days as a kid in church, back in Elizabethton, Tennessee. He began humming softly, the song, Rock of Ages, cleft for me.
Shara stopped to listen. “That is nice. What is the song?”
“Rock of Ages.”
“It is a popular song in America?”
“Not really. Only in church, when we sing it on Sundays. It is an old song.”
“What are the words?”
“I only remember, Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee.”
“You said from church. The rock is Jesus?”
“Yes, Jesus. That is what the church calls him today. The real name is actually ‘Yahushua,’ which means ‘God-saves,’ in Hebrew.”
“You believe that he is still alive?”
“Yes. Yes I do. He is alive. He is the living water. God raised him from the dead. We believe in the resurrection.” Ron took a sip from his CamelBak. “And I try to live like he is alive in me.”
Shara thought for a moment and then walked up to Ron. Standing in front of him, she stared into his eyes and held out her hand. “I’d like some, too, please.”
“What, water?”
“Yes, of course. Water. You have the living water, yes?” Ron held the nozzle up to her lips so she could drink. She lifted her right hand to hold the nozzle with him, placing it directly on top of his. With her left hand, she held on to his extended wrist. As she drank the water, her head tilted downwards, only her eyes looked up into his eyes as she stared into them until she finished drinking. “Thank you. Very refreshing.”
Ron still held the nozzle in his hand as she turned around and began walking quickly away. “Wait for me!” he called as he quickly regained his composure, placing the nozzle haphazardly back onto the pack and swiftly retrieving his M4.
September 9, 2014
Love in the House of War-Blog
EXCERPT from Day 6
Ron and Shara peered into the night sky together while a few scattered clouds moved
along like a curtain before a big play. After about ten minutes, Shara gained
enough courage to move her hand ever so slowly on top of Ron’s hand. He did not remove it.
To her surprising delight, he slowly turned his hand around to feel the palm of
hers and took it fully into his. Then Ron turned to look at her to see how she
might react. Shara stared into the night sky, her mouth wide with a joy, her
teeth, gleaming as if they reflected the sparkling lights. Slowly, still staring
into the night sky, she pulled their held hands to her cheek and then clasped
them with her free hand, now holding his with both of hers. Then, she brought
the hands up to her soft face and just held them there as she leaned her head
into his hand.
Many thoughts and feelings flooded Ron’s mind at that moment and the only fitting
things he could think of were the words to some old songs from the past:
I’m feeling that feeling again, I’m playing a game I can’t win,
Love’s knocking on the door. Think I’ll let her in.
Tell me, Princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?
Indescribable feelings…through an endless diamond
sky.
He wondered if at this exact moment she felt the same towards him as he did for
her. By taking his hand the way she did, Ron had some hopes that maybe she did
have some feelings for him and could even one day continue with the same
song:
“I’m like a shooting star, I’ve come so far, and I can’t go back
to where I used to be.”
If this were true, which is what Ron had hoped, then someday, they both could
finish this song together:
“Every moment gets better…let me share this whole new world with
you!”
Shara turned slowly to look at Ron while still holding his hand. Ron looked into her
eyes. For two seconds, they simply stared at each other and smiled. Then, slowly, Ron moved his head towards Shara’s face. She responded by moving towards him. Their lips, once separated by two feet of space, were now inches from touching and moving closer.
Suddenly, chattering voices broke the silence! Both Ron and Shara stopped and listened
intently. The men were speaking Pashto and they were just below the cliff wall. Halting their desire for each other, Ron held up his finger to his mouth. Shara’s beautiful eyes widened with fright.
