Megan's Smile

By: Robert Quattlebaum

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Ask anyone in town about Esau Bergmann, and you get the same reaction. Sour face. A disgusted gasp. Rolling eyes. He’s harsh, cantankerous, and downright rude. If he hasn’t offended you, it’s because you haven’t crossed paths with him. Esau has one lone friend in the world, and he wouldn’t have that but for the deep, dark secret they share that neither dares talk about any longer.

Megan McAllister couldn’t be more different from Esau. Young. Carefree. Always sporting a mile-wide smile. She delights in everyone and everything. The odd thing about Megan, though, is that the townsfolk don’t feel much different about her than they do Esau. For different reasons, of course. You see, Megan is … special. That’s the polite word for it. But in Megan’s world of the 1950s, they use a less flattering description. They call her a retard.

Boundaries aren’t Megan’s strongpoint. And living right next door to Esau is a recipe for disaster. She strays into his yard so often that he lodges a formal complaint against her family. The trouble escalates into an all-out feud that threatens to tear Megan’s household apart.

Is there anything Megan can do—or stop doing—to crack Esau’s rock-hard exterior and rescue her father from the pending legal battle? Or must Megan’s own past secrets come to light before Esau and the McAllisters find peace? Only one thing is certain – an epic showdown is brewing in the sleepy little town of Ellinsworth, GA. And the center of the controversy? Megan’s smile.