WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Eva by Mandy Haynes

“Behold, you give unto me the power to tread on serpents, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt me…”

Meet Eva, a young daughter of traveling Pentecostal preachers, who catches snakes while her parents hide behind the bible and a large wooden crate. Eva’s life changes when she makes her first friend and realizes there is more to life than fear.

…When it was time to for me to go home, Eva pointed at my bucket and asked, “What are you goin’ to do with them things anyway?”

“Daddy uses them for fishing bait.”

“You reckon he’ll need more tomorrow?” She asked.

“Oh, no…these’ll last him awhile!” We’d filled the bucket almost full and I couldn’t wait to show him. I’d never caught that many before, not even with Hank. I laughed, tickled with myself, but noticed Eva was frowning.

“Oh, I was hopin’ we could catch some more tomorrow.”

Before I could talk myself out of it, I turned the bucket upside down and let the crawdads loose. As I watched them run backwards for new hiding places, I fought the urge to grab them back. But I wasn’t sure Eva would want to meet me without having a reason, or if she would talk like she did without having the crawdads to keep her busy.

“What did you do that for?”

“I guess I’ll see you here tomorrow.” I said with a shrug and broke out in giggles while Eva stared at me like I’d sprouted a second nose, or another set of ears. I couldn’t stop giggling, but Eva never even smiled.

“Alrighty then,” she finally answered and we made our way out of the creek.

“Right here, tomorrow?” I called out to Eva.

I held my breath until she nodded. Then we smiled at each other on the opposite sides of the creek.

Me with my empty bucket, and Eva with a sack full of snakes.

“You’ve got to meet Eva! Every character Mandy Haynes writes is seductive and complex. Young Eva entices you with her wisdom and fearlessness. Read this story and then buy the whole short story collection Sharp as a Serpent’s Tooth. You won’t be able to put it down.” Ruthie Landis, Best Selling Author, Life Coach/Therapist, Enneagram Teacher

Eva is a novella that’s in the collection, Sharp as a Serpent’s Tooth - Eva and Other Stories. If you want to hear the rest of Eva’s story, you can read it now for free through Kindle Unlimited, or purchase it for ninety-nine cents.