Slow Simmer

Slow Simmer: A Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) Journey, is the second book in A Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) Journey Series. This book focuses on Stef, Melody's younger sister. Stef is a highly intelligent fighter who will do anything it takes to survive and get away from her abuse. Unlike Melody, Stef responds to her stress through fighting and flighting. Stef is a witty and very scrappy young woman who has learned to use her mouth and fists to keep people away and to fight off anyone who appears to be a threat. She is also a master manipulator who knows how to get away with her stress responses and use others to have a free place to stay far away from her home. This book tells the story of Melody and Stef's upbringing through the eyes of Stef, who never freezes and fauns like her sister Melody, but rather fights to the death and then runs like hell.

Stef and Melody are living with Abby, who through undying faith and love chose to provide a safe home for the girls. Melody has Callie and Abby. Stef feels as if she has nobody, or rather doesn't need anyone or anything until Stef meets Sunny. Sunny is a stunning short haired black young cat with striking yellow eyes. Sunny came to find safe harbor at Loving Hands Cat Rescue after Abby finds him thrown into a dumpster. Abby names him Sunny because after rifling through the overloaded dumpster to discover the owner of the shuffling sounds and small mews, she finds him just as the sun is rising. Sunny is a traumatized kitten who lives his life perched in his own liter box attacking anyone who tries to offer help.

When Stef meets Sunny, she understands him on a very deep level. Stef also prefers to live in the refuse of her emotional life and lash out at anyone intruding upon her self-imposed boundaries. Through spending time with Sunny, Stef learns about herself. Like Melody and Callie, Stef and Sunny share a symbiotic relationship which is defined as a close, long-term interaction between two different biological species, crucial for ecosystem balance. Stef and Sunny learn to trust one another and then to learn that there are people who are good and only want the best for them. Through learning to trust others and exhibiting trustworthy behavior, Stef learns to form life changing relationships that are truly worth fighting for and never running away from.