My Afterlife - Paperback

by David McElwee (Author)

My Afterlife will appeal to mature readers fascinated in the beauty of subtle changes like dandelions appearing or the glee when drinking a milkshake while acutely aware of life's unpleasantries. Skeeter McGee shares this intrigue and trepidation with the reader as a small-town genius whose life is truncated minutes before he's to graduate as valedictorian.

During his brief life, curiosity leads Skeeter to identify events and decisions guiding him to those he loves, including a merry-go-round ride resulting in lifelong friendships, a curious connection with a maternalistic junkman, and a simple decision resulting in his own death. However, that morning, he rides his bicycle book bag to deliver gifts to his four best friends.

Years later, three of these gifts (the drumsticks, skeleton keys, and scapular) are instrumental in saving the life of its recipient during adulthood. The fourth, a pair of yellow earrings, sparks an odyssey in which a young woman from a distant city is thrust into an unexpected life.

My Afterlife tethers tragic events and humorous situations to complex human experiences such as faith, death, and social complications encountered by each as time passes during their journey. Hopefully, the reader will reflect on their own life, shaped by important (and unimportant) events and decisions, leading them to ask, "What if...?"