The Town of Woodland: Utburd

Utburd is the story of a troubled teen who goes to live with her grandmother in Woodland, where her family has lived for over a hundred years. Willa has always been able to see and hear the dead, but Woodland brings that ability to a new level. Willa travels back in time to when her ancestors inadvertently create an Utburd, which will follow her back to her own time.

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The Town of WoodlandUtburdBy Vicki J TaylorAuthorHouseCopyright © 2015 Vicki TaylorAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-5049-2824-3CHAPTER 1Willa sat on the porch, trying not to hear the conversation going on inside and studied the view. Even though she had been here before, she had never looked at it from the view point of her home. Well ... probably her home. That was what the conversation was all about. After being kicked out of public school and several private ones, her mother had just simply had more than she could take of her. Her mother couldn't afford any more schools and had to work, so home school was out. That was of course unless Nana decided to take her on. Since Nana had home schooled her mother, her mother thought ... "Jesus, no wonder Mom was home schooled," Willa whispered out loud to herself, looking out across the front yard, "there isn't shit for miles." Willa talked to herself all the time. When she was younger, she tried to hide it but after a while it didn't seem to matter anymore. People looked at her differently than they did other people; at least after they got to know her a bit. Well maybe knowing her was a stretch. No one really knew her or even wanted to, after they had been around her for a while."Mom, I can't do anything with her. She won't talk to me, hell I don't know anyone she talks to except herself ... she just looks at you with those big eyes. Those big blank eyes ... she talks to herself! Her mother's voice droned on in her own screechy way from inside the house.Nana was replying but in an almost whisper of a voice, so Willa couldn't hear a word of what she was saying.Willa got up and walked across the porch and down the stairs. She looked around the yard, which was closely mowed. As she turned and looked back at the house, she noted that the hedges were also neat and trimmed. Flowers draped over the flower boxes under each window. The house itself was white with black shutters, not the cheesy glue on ones ... these really worked. Everything looked very ... tidy."The perfect little country house," she said to herself. She nodded her head in agreement, turned away and walked to the edge of the walkway neatly lined with phlox. Her mother's car and Nana's car was parked nose to tail in the paved driveway. Walking past the cars, she followed the driveway for awhile. "She even edges the driveway," Willa said to herself veering of and walking toward the sound of running water. At the far right of the property was a bubbling creek. The water bubbled over moss-covered rocks. Willa sat down beside the bank and pulled of her boots and socks. Scooting to the edge of the embankment, she slipped her naked sun-free feet into the cold water and wiggled her toes."It's really peaceful here," she told herself. Even though it was her fate they were deciding back at the house, it wasn't like she had any choice. She never seemed to have any choices. The things she thought were important, no one else did. People were only interested in school and clothes and what someone else thought. Girls her age were stupid and petty. All her mother ever wanted was for her to be like the other girls, which meant her mother wanted her to be stupid and petty. "No thanks," she said out loud.She rubbed her toes against the mossy rocks; they felt slimy and furry. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and lay back onto the grass. A gentle breeze tossed the leaves about, making a gentle rustling noise. The smell of cut grass and the sweet aroma of wild flowers, growing on the other side of the creek, enveloped her.Even though she tried to block out the thoughts, memories of the last school her mother put her in kept getting through. The school was a private all-girls school. She remembered sitting in front of a really big cherry desk, in a leather chair, her mother sitting in the one beside her. A name plate sitting on the desk announced that the really big desk as well as the room belonged to Professor Barbara Finley. Willa assumed that the really little white-haired lady sitting behind the really big desk belonged to that name. As she sat watching Professor Finley leaf through a folder, she presumed was her transcripts from the last school, she wondered if the big desk and little lady has the same meaning as the really little man and a really big gun. Every now and again, Professor Finley would glance up at her over her reading glasses. Willa suspected this was for effect. It wasn't really working on her, but it did seem to be on her mother. Her mother shifted nervously in her leather chair, changing which leg crossed over the other frequently."Academically, you seem to be advanced. However, behaviorally ..." Professor Finley began as she lay the folder down.Her mother interrupted, "I know that Willa has had problems in her other schools, but I am sure that is all behind her now.""Is that true?"Professor Finley asked looking over her glasses at Willa.Willa considered asking her if the students at this school were highly evolved, and had no issues with people who were different but thought better of it feeling the eyes of her mother burning into the side of her head. Willa was apparently giving her famous blank look because Professor Finley redirected her eyes back to her mother."Please don't misinterpret Willa, she is very ... shy." Her mother said, desperation oozing in her voice.Obviously from the look on Professor Finley's face, she was buying her mother's lame excuse. She looked back at Willa and then back at her mother before saying, "We hold our girls to a very high standard here at Sarah Winters School for Young Women. Each girl must meet those standards. We only employ instructors who can meet the challenges of preparing our girls for the top Universities. We also employ counselors who work very hard to make sure each girl adjusts to life here at Sarah Winters.""Oh I think a counselor would be the very thing Willa needs," her mother said with a smile."I said counselor not Psychologist," Professor Finley said."I assure you Willa does not need therapy," her mother retorted."There is no need to feel threatened, Mrs. Rice. You wouldn't be here if we hadn't already decided to admit Willa to our school."Willa saw her mother physically relax out of the corner of her eye."Thank you so much," her mother began."Well, don't thank me just yet," Professor Finley cautioned, "Willa is here strictly on her academic merits. If her behavioral issues surface, we will have no choice but to terminate her enrollment.""I understand completely," her mother said humbly."Yes, I thought you would. The real question is whether Willa understands," she said looking at Willa.Willa said nothing.After her mother had been dismissed, Professor Finley walked Willa to her dorm room. Willa followed the Professor through the school grounds carrying her two suitcases."You will have three other roommates on your floor. There are two girls to each room. They are rather large rooms. Your roommate will be Sonya Abbott, she is a quiet girl as well," Professor Finley said in spurts as they walked.Quiet girls usually meant either painfully shy ones or deeply troubled ones. As long as Sonya kept to herself, there probably wouldn't be any problems. That was just fine with Willa.The rooms were large by dorm standards. The beds were provided as well as other furniture. It had a very Laura Ashley feel. The bathroom was down the hall and looked like a typical school one. Multiple stalls, sinks and showers. Willa was glad to see that each shower had a door. Public nudity usually invited ridicule. No one was around when she and Professor Finley got to her dorm. It was the middle of the day and classes were still in session.Professor Finley stood in the doorway, "I will see to it that you get your schedule by the end of the day. Dinner is at 6:00, one of the girls will show you how to get to the cafeteria," she said as she turned to leave. She took two steps before turning back to Willa, "I do want you to be happy here, Willa. I am always here if you need me."Willa gave her a nod.Professor Finley seemed pleased with that and shut the door behind her.It took about a week before they started. Every school thought they were original in their taunts. Every school also thought they were completely secure in their privacy codes. It had been Willa's experience that if shit was written down, it was public knowledge. Things had a way of leaking out, especially when it were of a negative nature. Almost all of Willa's shit was negative. Sonya, her roommate, was indeed quiet and never said anything one way or another to Willa but it seemed everyone else did. Say a negative thing that is. Walking in the hallways or in gym, she began to hear the usual things."Hey Willa, seen any ghosts lately?""Hey Kim, did you know that Willa talks out loud to ... nobody?""Willa! Tell me my future!!""Where's your crystal ball?""She's crazy! Belongs in a wacky house!!""Better watch out, she'll cast a spell on you!""Witch!"After a couple of months of trying to 'adjust' Willa started to get angry. Her roommate, Sonya also took her share of taunts but to a much lesser degree. All they had on her was her quietness. Sonya had been at Sarah Winters for two years now and was still getting it. Therefore Willa deduced that they weren't ever going to let up on her; not with all the ammunition they had, so she started collecting.Ever since she could remember, she had seen and heard things other people didn't. It took her a long time to figure out that other people, including her mother, couldn't do it. At first her mother thought she was just playing and she played along. Willa remembered telling her mother about the little girl who came to see her at night. Her mother, apparently thinking 'imaginary friend' asked with humor in her voice, "Well Willa, what is the little girl's name?"Her mother's tone put Willa of and she regretted asking at all but had to answer. "Alice," she replied quietly."How old is Alice?""I don't know.""What does she look like?""She has yellow hair and she wears a blue dress.""Is she your best friend?""I don't know.""What do you guys play?""Nothing."Losing interest, her mother found something else to do and forgot all about the little girl. At first, people like the little girl would just visit her. They really didn't talk much and after Willa got used to them, it was easy to ignore them. As she got older, she started getting little messages in her head. The messages pounded in her head until she said them out loud. So whenever these messages came, Willa learned to just say them. That's when people started looking at her differently. Sometimes the people would just sort of laugh nervously or sometimes they got upset. That usually happened when she told them stuff like, 'Your mom says, get on with your life!'After saying something like that, her mother would put her hand over Willa's mouth and rush her out of the room as fast as she could. Later she would ask angrily, "Willa, why would you say such a thing?""I don't know," would be her standard response. That answer seemed better than telling her the message had to get out of her head or her head might burst. She learned at an early age what answers played out better with her mother because she tried once to explain about the messages and her mother spent the evening crying; apparently thinking her daughter was crazy. Finally Willa told her she saw a kid say that on television. That answer made her mother stop crying.For a time, in the beginning, she did try not to say things out loud but got so many headaches it just wasn't worth it anymore. None of the kids at any of the schools liked her. They all thought she was weird, that's when she started to talk to herself out loud. It wasn't as if it made things worse, as far as Willa could see, it really didn't matter one way or another. No one was ever going to like her. At each school, the Principal or Headmaster would eventually ask her mother to take her out of the school ... for her own safety. Although they never it said to each other, both she and her mother knew it had nothing to do with keeping her safe. It did have everything to do with the school maintaining an atmosphere without major distraction. Willa and her mother knew she was way too much of a distraction and not worth the trouble it would take to control the other students. Her mother spent many hours chastising Willa and accusing her of doing it on purpose. It was at this point that her mother began distancing herself emotionally.Even though it took a while before Willa got to the point of collecting, she knew from the first week that the usual pattern was beginning. Something inside her seemed to snap. Anger overwhelmed her and she decided to take control of the situation. She already knew how this was going to end, so what she did one way or another wouldn't change her future."But I can change the future for them," she said out loud, while sitting in English class two months after coming to Sarah Winters. Then she began to plot.Her instructor stopped in mid-sentence, trying to explain how humanity can break down in their study of Lord of the Flies. She turned and looked directly at Willa, "Miss Rice, did you have something to contribute?" She asked, her voice full of sarcasm.Normally Willa would have sunk down in her seat and stared at her desktop but this time she looked back at the Instructor and smiled. She never averted her eyes while giving a shake of her head."Then I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself," she said turning back to the chalkboard to finish connecting the names written there.Most of the girls in the class snickered; some continued to stare at her obviously missing the point of segregating the characters written on the board. Willa was Ralph and without a Piggy, she faced the others who had deteriorated into savages."Shhh," the Instructor said without turning around.Willa returned each stare with one of her own until the girl gave up, all the while studying the dead people scattered throughout the classroom. Over the years, Willa learned that some people have dead people around them all the time. They usually have something to tell that particular person and no way to do it. Once they discover Willa, they hound her to translate for them. Willa learned a long time ago that that wasn't the smartest thing to do. There were far too many of them and only one of her so she became quite good at ignoring them. Over time, she even learned to block some of their messages from getting into her head.As the Instructor droned on about Piggy, Ralph, and Jack, the dead people in the class began to notice Willa's interest in them. Willa smiled as they began to gather around her. Inviting dead people to talk to her was strange and time consuming. She had never made deals with dead before but in the end capitalizing on each other's special abilities was just too good for either of them to pass up. Being a constant reader helped as she searched for a private places to go to exchange information while pretending to read. When the other girls discovered her hiding places they would try to rattle her, so she pretended to be deep into her reading; eventually they lost interest and left her alone. Hiding in the bathroom or a closet and even a stairwell or two, her whispers must have seemed like reading aloud or simply just talking to herself. It worked out perfectly. She knew it wouldn't be practical to gather messages for each girl, there were far too many, so she picked out ten of the worst. She also began staking out the office, watching the comings and goings of the staff.As long as she kept a low profile, neither the staff nor the students seemed to notice her. Willa figured they liked it better when she pretended to be invisible. The taunts still came, along with shoves and pushes whenever she was visible ... like walking to class or during gym. (Continues...)Excerpted from The Town of Woodland by Vicki J Taylor. Copyright © 2015 Vicki Taylor. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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