The Eden Effect

Praise for Eden Effect from the Paper Mustang review web site:

"This short story packed quite a punch. The story drew me in and kept me involved throughout. I have to say I finished it in one setting; I couldn’t put it down. Or rather I didn’t dare put it down. It had all the comedy and tragedy of a full length novel packed neatly into a short story. I wasn’t too surprised at the ending; just saddened. Cause and effect are shockingly close together sometimes and this story brings that forefront for all to see. I really liked the way the author wove the story over the generations and didn’t have any problems following the logic of the decisions made by the actors."

Novella Description: George Adams is old and cranky, but he's also a bit of romantic. With his wedding anniversary just around the corner, he wants to take Eve back to the place they met - Culver's apple orchard.

Long ago, he inscribed his and his wife's names on a golden delicious apple tree. Now, more than 50 years later, he wants to find out if its still there. Just getting back to the tree, what with the orchard abandoned and age robbing him of his physical abilities, is an adventure.

Eve, his wife, thinks he has gone nuts. She's worried the old-geezer will break a hip. "You'll fall on your ass for sure, Georgie," she says. When George retorts with an "old woman" remark, all the bets are off. Eve is going to get to that tree if she has to walk him into the ground.

To their surprise, the tree is actually still standing. While all of the other trees in the orchard are now barren, George and Eve's tree has a single apple growing from it. Eve can't resist plucking it from the branch. Despite George's warnings, she bites into the apple. It's perfect in form and taste. Eve convinces George to eat.

Like their Biblical namesakes, all hell breaks loose after they eat the apple. At approximately 80 pages, this novella is packed with numerous twists and turns