Always Here: Anything Is Possible. First, You Have To Believe.

The story is set in rural Yapton, a small sleepy town in West Sussex, England and begins at Christmas 1968. It is seen through the eyes of Mary Foster, an eleven year-old girl who is the eldest daughter of Rosemary and Geoffrey Foster. Following the summer of 1968, Mary enters an all-girl school where she is being bullied by an older girl. Due to her introvert nature, Mary is unable to cope with the pressure but takes solace from her parents' and younger sister Susan's love. One day she sees the oak tree in the field beyond the rear garden forming the words 'Hello Mary' with its bare branches like a stencil in the sky. She gradually forms a relationship with it, never knowing if it is real or whether it is something she is experiencing due to her unhappiness. As she wrestles with understanding it all, the riddle concering the family dog that has been missing for over a year is solved. Mary is convinced it is the tree's doing and asks it to stop the torment she is suffering at school. The tree explains that the power to do so lies within Mary herself. Following a dreadful day at school at the hands of Audrey Mills- her chief tormentor- she speaks to the tree and demands that Mills dies. 'But I cannot hate, I can only love', it tells her. Shortly after, Mary suffers a nightmare where the dead body of Mills climbs through her bedroom window as a skeleton and Mary realises that every action has a reaction as her youngest sister Susan becomes seriously ill. One afternoon whilst out walking, her grandmother Stella confides in Mary that she also had an experience with the tree as a young girl. When her grandmother suddenly suffers a heart attack, Mary is enraged that the tree did not prevent the tragedy and distances herself from it, now convinced that such things as talking trees are not possible. All on her own, she finds the inner strength to finally defeat Audrey Mills and her life improves for a while, until her father suffers a brain clot and collapses at work. As he slips away, she speaks to the tree. Can Mary and the tree save him? Always Here's storyline follows Mary Foster from the age of eleven through her teenage years ending as she tries to contend with challenges and the pain of growing up. It also portrays the strength she develops to rise above all things that represent a challenge to her, the running verbal battles with her mother and her close friendship with her sister and two school friends Lizzy and Linda. In the final scene, Mary is in the sitting room attempting to complete her homework when she finally manages to uncover the secret that has so far eluded her. 'Always Here' is a story about a magical tree which helps Mary Foster in giving her the courage to face her own demons. With the support and love of her family, she understands that love will always conquer all and that with it, nothing is beyond hope. Anything is possible.

• | Author: Nick Symes
• | Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• | Publication Date: Mar 06, 2016
• | Number of Pages: 392 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 152376290X
• | ISBN-13: 9781523762903