After the economy forces her to find a new life, a woman lost on a country road stumbles upon a fountain and finds herself in the middle of a family drama to save their legacy. She teaches the heir a valuable lesson in the importance of family, and it's up to him to decide if his legacy is compelling enough to preserve even without the proof he needs to believe the family tale is true.
Excerpt:
Everyone has a tale. A story that defines them. A legacy to pass on to future generations.
The fountain in the town of Trader Fountain had a tale. It couldn't feel or touch or smell, but for more than a hundred years, generations of the Jaskin family had brought the memory of its tale to life.
On the other side of a worn wooden fence facing the main road to the newest part of town, Fountain Way, the reputed origin of the town of Trader Fountain, had been neglected for decades.
In the moonlight, inside the wooden fence, Gran-T looked around the plaza where the story of the Jaskin family in America began.
Every holiday, every birthday, every opportunity she had, Gran-T took on the tradition of telling the tale.
Every member of the Jaskin family knew it by heart and they repeated the chorus with her.
"Build us a town in which we can live, build us a church in which we can marry, build us a house in which we can raise a family and I will come back to marry you."
Echoing through the generations, the words of the two people who met and formed the legacy that was her family grew from this point.
The fountain where they met, where Victor and Row fell in love, was now crumbling. The town they built left behind when the Interstate dissected the community. The church in which they married now sagging in despair, filled with the memories of funerals and no longer bursting with hope and salvation. The house they built, and in which they built their family, their life, was nothing more than just a wall holding back the wind.
This wasn't the story Gran-T told. This wasn't the tale that was passed on to her when she married the oldest son of the oldest son back to the man who founded the town.
Hers was a tale of love. Fountain Way deserved better. From this point, generations of family branched out and embraced their tradition.
Only one member had his doubts. The heir.
As oldest son of the oldest son back to Victor, her grandson Tim was responsible for the legacy now. But Tim didn't believe the tale. Didn't understand the enormity of his responsibility to the family.
His complacency no longer mattered to anyone but Gran-T.
In her hand she held the letter that would decide the fate of their tale, their legacy.
This is where the story ended. One last time, Gran-T would gather her family and tell the tale.
This would be the last time.
It would be the last time anyone heard her version of the tale.
A new tale would be told, but she wouldn't be telling it.
Her time was coming to an end. It was time for another member of the family to keep the tradition alive for future generations.
Gran-T only hoped there was something left worth telling, worth keeping the legacy alive.