Liberating the Sky

The first part of the novel-in-progress, Liberating the Sky, opens during an intense heat wave in New Haven, Connecticut--a time when nearly everything and everyone has wilted and come to an abrupt halt, seemingly to pay homage to the heat: everyone, with the possible exceptions of best friends, Nyra and Keisha. They, along with the rest of their teenage peers, remain curious and active--sexually so. In one impulsive moment, during the week-long first part of the novel, both girls' lives are immediately changed--a change which insidiously leaks into their adulthood, leaving them struggling with a whole new set of restraints. Although this theme of confinement and ultimate liberation will be the focus of the rest of the novel, making the title resonate significantly with the novel's alternating narrators, it is the definitive moment of change which this excerpt details.