Dave Casler
PO Box 98
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Young Adult Novels by Dave Casler...
I've been told by publisher after publisher that there's no market for Young Adult novels. I think they're wrong! So I'm putting my novels on-line for you. Forget the publisher! Read to your heart's content--it's free! And, I'd like to hear from you, too! Contact Page.
You're reading About Dan. Be sure to check out About Phillip here.
Dan is a normal kid who loves his soccer. Except everything goes wrong. Everything.
About Series Home
About the About Series
Index to All Chapters
Here are all the chapters, disguised as asterisks. Hover your mouse over an asterisk to see the title of the chapter. Click on the asterisk to go straight to that chapter.
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(About Dan Home) (Last) (Next)
The Home in South Boulder
Boulder boasts fine homes, both vintage and new, but Dan's wasn’t one of them. He and his mother lived in a "starter home," much like its neighbors up and down the street. It offered two bedrooms, a living room and a "country kitchen" barely large enough for a small table. The basement was jammed with leftovers from before the divorce. The one-car garage was similarly full. They shared the single bathroom.
His mother was rushed. Getting Dan home from the hospital and into his bedroom took longer than she wanted. "Dan, here are your pain pills. Dr. Jones said to take as few as possible. And take one of these antibiotics right after lunch. Oh, and call the school right now. The number is on the kitchen table. I'm late for a meeting. Can you take care of yourself?"
Not waiting for an answer, she kissed him on the forehead and left him in the wheelchair by his bedroom window. He watched her drive down the street. The rain pounded on the roof and the wind gusted through the trees. There was an occasional crack of thunder. All the noise was outside, though; none inside. He felt empty, as though the house were a mausoleum.
Dan looked at his soccer posters and photographs strewn in grand disarray on the walls. A favorite was an autographed picture of a Manchester United soccer player. He got it just before leaving for the States. Another featured Denver’s Colorado Rapids soccer team. Another showed the Park High School soccer schedule. It had a picture of team in their crimson uniforms; he was the one holding the ball. There were still six games this season—none of which he’d play. Also tacked up here and there were more than a dozen group pictures of teams he’d been on. One picture showed him receiving a trophy. The trophy sat on a bookshelf on the opposite wall. His guitar stood in a corner. If truth be told, he hadn’t touched it for a year. In the corner were several soccer balls and various athletic garb, happily unsorted. His closet door was stuck open for the simple reason that everything had tumbled out. For once, there was no debris on the bed; his mother must’ve made it while he was in the hospital.
His computer shared the table with a photo from the last Park High Spring Festival. He and Lisa were dressed in their Sunday best for the girl's choice dance. She's pretty, he thought. Although Mormons aren't supposed to date until they're 16, they'd finagled a way to get a group activity together so they’d end up at the dance. They saw each other often now that they’d passed the magic birthday. She was the bishop's daughter. Bishop Parker disapproved of her going steady but they happily ignored him.
Dan smiled as he remembered Lisa's visit to the hospital. There had been flowers, a card and a plate of brownies. She came back every day. His mother, normally disapproving of Dan's church friends, always found an excuse to leave the room just as she arrived.
Every visit he felt there was something on Lisa's mind. It was nothing, he was sure. She never mentioned anything. So why did I feel it?