Publisher's Synopsis
The Journey is a Narrative Memoir "We left our whole world behind and fled with nothing, yet the children never even once asked why" The Journey is Book II of The Torn Trilogy which includes Torn From the Inside Out, The Journey and Out of the Maelstrom In 1987, Sara Niles fled for her life from a homicidal abuser, with her five small children in tow. The Journey tells the story of the Niles children during their long struggle to survive. Excerpts "She made thirty suicide attempts before the age of thirty. Some unseen and unknown inner turmoil, created a war within her: a chaotic war that she felt she could not win, but was not sure she wanted to lose" "I wrote The Journey, the intimate and revealing story of our lives, not to shame anyone, or to hurt feelings, but to enlighten, and to awaken and provide a call to action to many of the individuals who are a parent, child, or partner, in at least one relationship that has elements of dysfunction and discord. Someone has to label dysfunction where it starts and put an end to it once and for all." Sara Niles "When the dark night ended, a new day dawned for us when my children were still small, and the new day was as long as the long night had been, and in some ways, just as frightening" "Once we lose trust in 'who we are' and what we believe in, we are exposed to the wolves of doubt and despair, and are in mortal jeopardy " "Our flight to freedom and safety was filled with a calm suppressed terror in the children and I, the type terror you have when you are used to living with danger" ContentsTable of Contents Chapter 1 My Child in Chaos.....9 Chapter 2 Remembering The Past...15 Chapter 3 Entering the World of the 'Have Nots'...33 Chapter 4 A New Niche.....49 Chapter 5 Isolated and Insulated...63 Chapter 6 Invaded.....79 Chapter 7 Reorganization...93 Chapter 8 The Many Faces of Religion...109 Chapter 9 The Snow Storm....123 Chapter 10 The Bounty of the Garden...131 Chapter 11 The Rains.....141 Chapter 12 Special Visitors.....151 Chapter 13 The Quick Builds.....161 Chapter 14 The Circus Comes to Town...173 Chapter 15 View from the Land of Enchantment...178 Chapter 16 Molding Human Clay.....185 Chapter 17 Mortality.....197 Chapter 18 The World Still Turns...205 Section II: Entering the Twilight Zone Chapter 19 The Journey into the Land of Night...213 Chapter 20 The Car...229 Chapter 21 Deception and Retribution...244 Chapter 22 The Unleashing...254 Chapter 23 Catastrophe.....266 Chapter 24 Freeing the Monsters...276 Chapter 25 A Problem with Mikey...292 Chapter 26 Relaxing of the Guard...304 Chapter 27 The Binding Poverty...310 Chapter 28 Five Years Working for the 'Company Store'...324 Chapter 29 A Season to Learn...334 Chapter 30 The End of Seventh Street...348 Chapter 31 A Moment to Rest...350 Chapter 32 Life Changes...352 Chapter 33 A Religious Hold Broken & The Birth of the Book...355 Chapter 34 The Call of Academia...378 Chapter 35 Even Solid Steel Breaks...385 Chapter 36 Connections and Friendships...398 Chapter 37 An Appeal to the Veteran's Administration...401 Chapter 38 .Enlightenment...408 Chapter 39 Opportunities...423 Chapter 40 A Dark Time for Mikey Begins...434 Chapter 41 Tommy Maries...440 Chapter 42 Las Vegas.....442 Chapter 43 A Child Lost.....470 Chapter 44 The Three Monsters: Trauma, Drugs, & Mental Illness...492 Chapter 45 Finding Absolution...496 Chapter 46 Ariel Battles The Three-Headed Monster...500 Chapter 47 Finding Happiness...512 Chapter 48 The Evolutions...515 Epilogue.......................516 Post Script: Trauma, Addiction, Mental Illness..525 End of The Journey Sample Chapter of Out of the Maelstrom by Sara Niles...541