The Homecoming

Hollywood Power-Broker Michael Johnson is brought back to the small town of his youth by the death of his father. Three days, he thinks, three days and I’m done. Unwillingly, he is reunited with the life he left behind fifteen years ago, and has rarely thought about since. As the three short days play themselves out, he is forced to deal with feelings and emotions that he didn’t realize he had, none more powerful than those that begin to stir for Roseanne, his love from so long ago. Matters are complicated even more by the sudden appearances and disappearances of a wise old man who delivers the local newspaper and seems to know a little bit too much about Michael and his situation. Though his words are not always welcome, the little things he says, and know, stick with Michael and he begins to question his own destiny. Somehow he manages to get back to his life in Los Angeles, yet he finds himself longing for the woman he just left 2,300 miles away, and perhaps the solitudes of the same small town. The feelings will pass, he continues to tell himself as he tries to merge back onto the fast paced freeway he has lived the last fifteen years. Life however makes another sudden turn and he receives word that his mother has taken ill. The decision he is forced to make is one that will alter his life, forever. Throughout the entire piece, one questions looms large. Who is this person with the power to alter Michael’s life? How does he know what he knows, and most importantly, will Michael listen? By the end of the tale, the reader will wonder just who and what is this man, and do they have one in their own lives.

Hollywood Power-Broker Michael Johnson is brought back to the small town of his youth by the death of his father. Three days, he thinks, three days and I’m done. Unwillingly, he is reunited with the life he left behind fifteen years ago, and has rarely thought about since. As the three short days play themselves out, he is forced to deal with feelings and emotions that he didn’t realize he had, none more powerful than those that begin to stir for Roseanne, his love from so long ago. Matters are complicated even more by the sudden appearances and disappearances of a wise old man who delivers the local newspaper and seems to know a little bit too much about Michael and his situation. Though his words are not always welcome, the little things he says, and know, stick with Michael and he begins to question his own destiny. Somehow he manages to get back to his life in Los Angeles, yet he finds himself longing for the woman he just left 2,300 miles away, and perhaps the solitudes of the same small town. The feelings will pass, he continues to tell himself as he tries to merge back onto the fast paced freeway he has lived the last fifteen years. Life however makes another sudden turn and he receives word that his mother has taken ill. The decision he is forced to make is one that will alter his life, forever. Throughout the entire piece, one questions looms large. Who is this person with the power to alter Michael’s life? How does he know what he knows, and most importantly, will Michael listen? By the end of the tale, the reader will wonder just who and what is this man, and do they have one in their own lives.

Storyteller Tom Chaney is the author of several screenplays and novels as well as an independent filmmaker. The Homecoming is his second novel. His first, The Wind Walker was published to regional success in the Midwest and was given five stars by the Midwest Book Review, which called it, “a fascinating, gripping tale. A truly haunting story.” Tom is also an avid athlete, having qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2011 and completing 5 Ironman triathlons in the last 6 years. He lives in Plymouth, Michigan with his wife Susan, daughter Jordan and son Jack.