The Reawakening of Mage Axum

Transcription

1 World War II rages throughout Europe. Mage Axum, an injured American soldier, awakens in a hospital unaware of who he is. Aided by a priest, he finds his way back to America, only to discover that his wife remarried after being informed that he had died in combat. However, everyone is unaware that he has miraculously been given a second chance at life, but inexplicably in the body of a soldier named James Karl. The Reawakening of Mage Axum by Tucker E. Axum III Order the complete book from the publisher Booklocker.com or from your favorite neighborhood or online bookstore.

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3 The Reawakening of Mage Axum A novel by Tucker Edward Axum III

4 Copyright 2016, 2015 Tucker E. Axum III ISBN (Paperback) ISBN (Hardback) ISBN (ebook) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This is a work of historical fiction inspired by actual persons and events. The author has taken creative liberty with many details to enhance the reader s experience. Book cover designed by Rebecca McMillan Rawle. First published as an ebook on Memorial Day 2015, aboard the USNS Mercy (T-AH-19), while docked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Second Edition

5 CHAPTER ONE There had been times, mystical times, when he thought he might have remembered the first time that he experienced an awakening. It was a faint memory at best, but it had managed to stay with him the way a shadow stalks the body in the light of day. In his memory, he is probably no older than 18 months. There s noise in an adjacent room. He hears the clatter of voices and sounds, perhaps from a kitchen and living room. He s in an open space indoors, maybe on a bedroom floor or a large closet, although one wonders how large a closet would ve been in a farmhouse during the World War I era in an East Texas county far removed from both the big city and the news of the day. There was no radio yet, and there were no movie theaters with newsreels. What little news Americans in remote areas could get about the faraway war came to them in dated dispatches carried by the local newspaper or letters from loved ones nearer the conflict across the Atlantic. They were a family with the unusual last name of Axum. His given name, Mage, was every bit as odd, as he would be reminded right up to his time as a soldier in the next war, three decades later. That short for Major? he d be asked many times. I knew a Gage once and a Sage but never heard of a Mage. Strange name, my friend. Very strange indeed. That initial memory of being a baby coming to conscious awareness of the world around him remained fleeting at best. It had no particular beginning or end. It was simply his ongoing way of initially knowing he was alive, whatever that meant. 1

6 Tucker Edward Axum III Later memories, of course, would be better sketched out. He remembered being in early grade school, perhaps no older than six, when he decided to show off for classmates by jumping over a classroom bench and inadvertently catching his handme-down leather boot under the wooden structure and falling flat on his forehead, temporarily losing consciousness until a teacher revived him. The pain was excruciating, but nothing compared to the embarrassment of being the only boy in his group up to that point who had committed the unpardonable sin of crying in school. His second awakening happened about 29 years later while fighting the German Army on their own soil. It was as improbable and inexplicable as his first experience of awareness circa He felt a powerful surge of energy that seemed to propel his soul upward toward the sky. He immediately recognized that he was in a dark tunnel, with an almost blinding white light at the end. Under normal circumstances, it may have scared him. But he felt an overwhelming sense of peace. He gravitated toward the light, noticing that his body felt weightless. He also felt no pain. He was completely free. As he approached the white light, he could feel its warm rays bathing his soul with love, peace, and familiarity. A white-bearded man clad in a brown-colored robe welcomed him by name. Mage did not recognize the monk, but he did feel like he had known him for ages. The angelic host apologized and said there had been a mistake. He seemed embarrassed by the mistake, but mentioned that the chaos of man-made war sometimes causes such mishaps. He explained that Mage had died prematurely. However, unfortunately, his 2

7 The Reawakening of Mage Axum earthly body was too badly damaged from combat for him to return to it. The only solution was to remand his soul back to Earth, but this time to inhabit the body of another American soldier who had just died on the battlefield. 3

8 World War II rages throughout Europe. Mage Axum, an injured American soldier, awakens in a hospital unaware of who he is. Aided by a priest, he finds his way back to America, only to discover that his wife remarried after being informed that he had died in combat. However, everyone is unaware that he has miraculously been given a second chance at life, but inexplicably in the body of a soldier named James Karl. The Reawakening of Mage Axum by Tucker E. Axum III Order the complete book from the publisher Booklocker.com or from your favorite neighborhood or online bookstore.