'Stolen Dreams' by Sanet Smit

Blurb:

As the curtain rises, Renate Orbit-Reese, darling of the dancing world, steps onto the stage … only to collapse moments later. Her daughter Ilze panics, and in her headlong dash to get her mother to hospital, runs over a man standing in the road next to his vehicle.

When the media gets hold of the story, Ilze’s private life becomes a nightmare of speculation and insinuation.

In the dramatic moment when Ilze crashed into the stranger, he in turn crashed into her heart. Somehow she must explain her feelings to her long-time partner and enter a new world where she discovers the true meaning of love.

But the road to happiness is not easy. Why does a sensitive secret emerge after so many years? And how does Ilze know who to trust?

Read an excerpt:

Turn around, Ilze, go back. You don’t belong here …

Her heart beats faster and faster as she walks slowly into the room. Ilze is sure that it can be seen. A green curtain was drawn closed yet with natural light from behind the silhouette of a human being laying there. Upon closer peering a raised leg in plaster stood out…

Oh Ilze, what have you done?

As she pulls back the curtain, she looks at the man, guilt written all over her face, but gets thrown off guard when he looks back just as intently. She finds it hard to breathe. Her heart skips a beat and her body is paralysed while he keeps her captive with his eyes. The smile that takes over his face just adds to the instant charm of the man.

Dark beautiful eyes. Yours burn into mine. You hold me prisoner. I feel useless. I’m afraid I’m going to fall and be lost forever.

There is silence around her, as though time has stopped. Was this what it was like to get lost in emotions? What was it like to breathe?

I’m drowning in your eyes and I don’t want it to end.

They are staring at each other. Neither having the power to find the ability to speak, and break out of this spell. This is a craziness she’s never experienced before. It’s sweet; a dream she’s always just read about; the age old story of love at first sight. How will she ever get her heart back again? Did she want it back after this?

I was a leaf in the wind, predictable in my own world. There was no sunshine; it was cold; constant and consistent. Then suddenly, when my eyes fell upon yours, there was silence. A silence wished for but never achieved. The wind calmed and I knew it was you I was waiting for.

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About the author

Growing up in a self-created imaginary world, Sanet Smit wrote her first story at age nine.

She was born in a small town, Three Rivers – a suburb in Vereeniging, South Africa. She did a short writing course in 1991 at the University of Potchefstroom, South Africa. She also completed a creative writing course in 2006 at the New Zealand Institute of Business Studies and scriptwriting for TV & Film in 2011 at Stotts Cengage Education, New Zealand.

Her future plans include writing romantic novels for an audience of people who like romance and human interest stories. She would also like to continue writing for children of all ages. She has also started writing television and film scripts.