Brief

Chris buys a book from a pretty lady he makes a date with, but he misses the date and loses contact with her. The book travels to different people, and the inscription the lady wrote inside the cover inspires people to live out their destinies. Chris travels to France to find the lady and they reconnect - and her name is Destiny.

What We Liked

This novella in about a tried and true, universal story theme - destiny. How does one find it? Does it just find them? Told from the perspective of characters from all stages of life, it's fun to see people start on a new road that may just be what finally causes them to follow their bliss.

Film: It's theme couldn't be stronger, and the variety of characters and scenarios that are all held together by a simple inscription in a book would be enjoyable to an audience. It never gets stale as one wonders how the characters' lives will be changed and what they will do next after their fantastical encounter with a seemingly boring used gardening book.

TV: It would make a good limited series due to its structure. Each person is in an encapsulated story with the exception of the book-end stories of the leads. Each episode promises a new character and a new adventure, as good anthologies do.

Key points:
Variety of characters
Strong, universal theme
Varied settings
A binding element
Characters to root for

Synopsis

A pretty young lady sets up her soaps and perfumes for sale at a flea market in the hot sun. Her shop is called “Perfumes and Potions'' and she’s in St. Louis. She may go back to Bloomington, IN after this, or somewhere else. She sprays some scent in the air to compete with the food vendors. She sees a man watching her and he catches her catching him and he smiles. He disappears, then shows up with an iced tea for her. He asks about her wares. His name is Chris, after Christopher Reeves. She thinks he looks better than Superman. They flirt and make a date. He buys a book, “Ginseng and the Plants that Make You Money.” She writes inside the cover, “When the time is right, you will see a path, if you follow it, there you will find your destiny.” Chris wonders what flowers to bring her on their date. His mom calls and says his dad is in the hospital. He goes back to the flea market but the pretty lady has packed up and left. He rushes to the airport and flies to San Francisco and to the hospital to see his dad. He’s too late - his dad has died. His mom is waiting for him. He takes her home and they each have a drink. He realizes he left the book he bought from the pretty lady in the cab.

Elise, 40s, and two friends are on vacation in Panama City, FL - where a hurricane is coming. She just got laid off from her computer job and was going to spend her vacation thinking of her next move. They drive to a shelter which is a big gymnasium with all classes of people and which is run by the Red Cross. No special treatment. Snacks, sandwiches, and no information. They hear the storm outside. The power goes out and a generator kicks in. The floor is hard. They lose track of time and it’s the next day. Rain and wind come through a broken window. She picks up a book - it’s the one Chris bought at the flea market. She gives the Red Cross a couple hundred dollars. They’re allowed to leave a couple days later, but it’s gridlock and there is devastation. They end up at a shelter in a small town where people are in worse shape. They decide from the book that they will go into the herb and flower business.

Kristie, 30s, is in Brooklyn, walking through the snow to the used bookstore where she works. She loves her job and her small apartment is enough. She was a dancer who didn’t make it. She has accepted that she’s a “plain Jane.” She reads travel books and historical fiction. Her boss makes her start taking vacation days she’s accrued and this upsets her. She doesn’t know what she’ll do. She finds Chris’s book. She’s moved by what the flea market lady has written about destiny and this makes her review her options. Travel, a makeover, photography... She quits her job.

Paul is incarcerated in Indianapolis. A life sentence. He escapes through reading. The preacher comes, and brings him new books. There’s a Stephen King book - valuable. Also, Chris’s book. Paul gives the preacher some pages of his own writing and the preacher really encourages him to keep going. He may even pass it along if Paul keeps up the good work. He tells Paul he was inspired by a fringe group that was into energy. “Image creates desire, you will what you imagine,” is a quote from an author in that group that inspired the preacher greatly. Paul is moved, and the preacher gives him a good-bye bear hug. Paul starts the Stephen King book. He gets a package from the preacher, as promised - a ream of paper and several pencils. He looks at Chris’s book and is moved to tears by what is written inside the cover and decides to follow his destiny and begins to write.

Heavenly, 19, is in college in Bloomington, IN. It’s harder than she thought and she has to work as well. She looks forward to her time with an old man in a nursing home. She brings him books. Jason lost a leg and ruined a hip in Vietnam. He’s in pain, and asks for more pills from the doctor. He’s squirrelled some away under his mattress and plans on killing himself. No one is in his life anymore and he’s just taking up space. Heavenly shows up with an armload of books. Jason’s favorite person. She takes him outside and he asks her about her classes. She says history is boring, and Jason tells her how history has been distorted and so much of what we are taught isn’t true. He tells her about a book called “A People’s History of the United States,” which dispels a lot of the myths. One of the books she’s brought is Chris’s, and Jason reads the inside cover and reconsiders suicide.

Chris is with his mother. They had the funeral for his dad. Now he has to find the flea market lady, but doesn’t even know her name. He checks a mall in St. Louis, and finds out she - Miss Marshall - closed her shop and moved to France. He calls the hotel she’s supposed to be at, and finds out she’s about to check out. He pleads with the desk clerk to tell her to wait for him. He gets to the hotel and she’s checked out - but she’s left him a note saying she’ll be there for dinner. She finds him and they reconnect. She tells him her name is Destiny.

About The Author

Sandra Gallimore has a varied background of social work, public relations, and writing all manner of work, from country music lyrics, ballads, to novels. Travel in Europe opened a world of experiences to write, including her business to produce soaps and perfumes to sell, and a lifetime of tourist attractions and memories.