Published: November 02, 2009 11:57 am      

Novel idea | T-D wants readers to become authors

THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT

She drove across the Pennsylvania winter landscape, and the years seemed to peel away.

The road signs counted down the miles to her hometown, and her anticipation grew.

She knew Johnstown had changed much in the time she’d been gone.

And, of course, so had she.

Would she even recognize the once-gritty place known as the “Flood City”? Would there be a rush of old feelings and familiar emotions?

Or would she now be the outsider, a stranger intruding on the peaceful Conemaugh Valley?

Night was falling as she crossed into Cambria County for the first time in a decade. The highway carried her through town names from her past as lights of the season twinkled from houses along the quiet countryside.

On the radio, a holiday song was playing. “White Christmas.” One of her favorites.

The dusk was broken by bright lights from a shopping center, and her mind again returned to Johnstown.

And to the day she left.

What would happen after all these years? That question caused the nervous excitement to grow within her.

Bing Crosby gave way to Nat King Cole, singing of chestnuts on an open fire.

Outside the wind shook the pines above the highway.

She shivered – not from the chill of the wind, but from the memories of that sudden parting, from thoughts of the circumstances that led her to leave.

As if to punctuate her thoughts, Karen Carpenter followed Nat, and declared: “I’ll be home for Christmas.”

Despite her anxiousness, she smiled at the irony.

She was sure of only one thing. This Christmas was taking her home in many ways, back to the town she had left and back to confront the past she had left behind.

With snowflakes swirling before the headlights of her car, she exited the highway and turned toward downtown Johnstown ...



Write the next chapter

Here is your chance to help write the story.

Beginning today in the Living section and continuing every other Sunday leading up to the holidays, The Tribune-Democrat will publish an ongoing serial story written by you, the readers.

We’ve provided the first chapter here.

The final chapter will be published on Christmas Day.

“Your Story” will contain five chapters, which must have a holiday theme or time frame and be set in Greater Johnstown. To submit an entry, pick up the story thread where it ends today and take the story wherever you like.

Please submit your entry for the second chapter, up to 750 words, by Friday.

Entries can be e-mailed to Renée Carthew, Features Editor, at rcarthew@tribdem.com; sent by fax to 539-1409; or mailed to The Tribune-Democrat, 425 Locust St., P.O. Box 340, Johnstown, Pa. 15907.

Or you can submit your story on line at Story Form

The winning second chapter will be published on Nov. 15, and a short story about the author will also appear.

At that time, new entries can be submitted for the third chapter to continue the story.

The ongoing story will appear on The Tribune-Democrat’s Web site – www.tribdem.com.