Beneath the Ever Trees

The Divided World #.5

by Raf Morgan

There’s magic in the world, but none for Malenie…It's been 119 days since everything fell apart.Since her friendship with Nes imploded.Since Nes’s siblings were taken by slavers.Since Malenie lost Nes’s protection.And the bullies are closing in.A short prequel to The Desert Wall, Raf Morgan’s “Beneath the Ever Trees” is the story of what really happened between Malenie and Nes before the events that took Malenie out of her small town and into the wider world of secrets, magic and betrayals.

Genres: Ebooks

52 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 13, 2021

About the author

Also publishes as R. Morgan

I’ve been preparing all my life to be a writer, though I didn’t know it. Like that time I volunteered to protect sea turtles on a beach in Costa Rica and wound up with half my body in her nest at 3 am with a blue plastic bag under her butt to catch her eggs to relocate them so poachers couldn’t find them. Those nests are deep! Those sea turtles are big! Or living in Bangkok, Thailand, which is where I am now for my day job. (I’m a USAian.) You never know what’s going to happen here and every day is an adventure. Once we hired a driver to take us to the beach and he removed the steering wheel from the dashboard. While we were driving!

Mostly I’ve worked as a technical editor and a translator, but I’ve also worked as a dog walker (sometimes taking 11 dogs to the park at once, but usually only two or three) and in a district court. One time, I was asked by a judge to interpret for a woman who only spoke Portuguese even though I don’t speak Portuguese. He had decided that Spanish (which I speak as a second language) was close enough because it was an emergency. I had to go change my shirt after that, I was so nervous about messing it up.

None of these stories have made it into my books yet, but the settings of the different places I’ve lived often do. The desert in my first book, The Desert Wall, is a mashup of the Sonoran and the Chihuahuan Deserts (I’ve lived in Tucson, Arizona, and Monterrey, Mexico, too).

I don’t have a picture of me on my website or social media because of my day job situation. I hope you enjoy the picture of the saguaro cactus. They’re protected by federal law, live to be 200 years old and their flowers are pollinated by bats. I think that’s pretty cool.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a short story. I feel sad for Nes for losing her siblings and father and not having all the answers of why that happened - who took them and why.
I feel worried of how Nes knew how to fend for herself, how she knows how to fight and very well. I also feel worried of why she pushed her friend Melanie away from her when she needed a friend the most during her difficult times.
I feel sad for Melanie to lose Nes as a friend but happy they finally talk and help eachother out - Nes having a friend to talk to and Nes teaching Melanie to fight so she can protect herself from her bullies.

[Manisha Halkhoree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent start to the series with this novella. Interestingly-written characters, and good world-building; though I will not continue with this series.

Malenie swung on her gate to her yard, idly watching a dust devil spin down the dirt road and waiting for the girl who used to be her best friend.

One hundred and nineteen days since their friendship fell apart.

[Hippiblossom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a prequel and short story. However the ending is very abrupt. If you’ve read the first book first, maybe it all makes sense. For me, it did not and the ending left me feeling very uneasy.

Overall I enjoyed the majority of this SS. I felt very invested in Malenie and Nes. I had so many questions about Malenie and Nes’s friendship and what happened. It was clear that these were two girls growing up in the same town, yet also not at all. Their experiences were very different. Not only were they of different cultural ethnicities, which is significant but also Malenie seemed to have more privilege. And bc of this, their stories are very different and tragic in different ways, despite being next door neighbors. The ending gave us a tiny glimpse of the main bully. But also leaves many many questions and very little answers. I feel invested and want to know what happens to each of these characters and how they survive their challenges.

[Monica M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice reads, there are unanswered little details (like what is spell stone and its function) but overall it's enjoyable.
The bullies, ugh, Malenie's dad needs a firm shake to wake him up from his autopilot mode and start give his daughter attention and protection she need.

I like the first book sample, although maybe there's inconsistency?
Like in the prequel it was said Nes' siblings and father was gone. But in the first book's sample, it's not the siblings and father but father, cousins, uncle and aunt.

[Yvette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me want to read more.

[Nimui · Rating 2 out of 5]

Severely mid.

[Lucy Milne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this in the “free books” section of Apple books and didn’t realise it was a prequel. I really liked the story and will seek out the trilogy.