Outburst — 4: Jenny Sky Expects a Promotion

Jennifer Scyler knew what she wanted and went after it with a sense of purpose bordering on obsession.

Jennifer Scyler knew what she wanted and went after it with a sense of purpose bordering on obsession.

She had developed a specialty, something she did better than anyone else.

Her particular talent, for which she’d prepared through years of tedious study, was the extraction of children-at-risk from troubled environments. Put simpler, she separated kids from abusive parents. Jennifer’s performance reviews, without exception, rated her as an outstanding employee and a caring individual.

When she had been thirteen, her mother died during delivery of Jennifer’s stillborn sister. That left her the lone female in a household that included two older brothers and chronically unemployed father. Her home life was a Cinderella story, with males replacing the other cottage characters. But Jenny didn’t believe in magic. Fairy godmothers didn’t exist, and no handsome prince would rescue her in the final reel.

She’d have to save herself.

As the situation worsened and the invisible chains tightened, Jenny lay in bed, contemplating the odds and planning her escape.