The Trump presidency is more than a year gone, but the fiction it inspired lives on. A short story of mine, “Gold and Ivory” appears at the end of this anthology edited by Bob Brown and Jess Faraday. Alternative Truths III: Endgame is the third and final volume of the best-selling Alternative Truths series from B Cubed Press.
A portion of the proceeds of this book were donated to the ACLU of Washington State to support the right of the American people to express themselves.
The book is available in print and electronic media from Amazon.com.
In retrospect, my story was perhaps the most predictive of this volume, though not entirely. Trump is, after all, still alive.
Here’s an excerpt.
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Once inside, Maisie knew where it was. Or as she thought of it now, as “It.” It was only shown to the family on the Fourth of July. There was a ceremony about it, filled with both wonder and ghoulishness. It was always presented at dusk, before the firecrackers came out, when Grandma told a story of long ago of how It had been made and where she had found It. After that telling they all gave thanks, by which Maisie understood the threat of It had been neutralized and the destruction it had caused would never happen again.
Maisie had asked to see It at times other than the Fourth of July, but Grandma always brushed her off. Maisie felt insulted that she thought she would lose it or harm it. She wasn’t a baby anymore, and Grandma should know that. They crept over to the bureau. Maisie knew It was kept in the lower drawer, the same place her and her brother’s birth certificates were kept along with other important papers. After the last holiday she had glimpsed Grandma sliding the drawer shut when the day’s festivities were over, the last of the s’mores consumed. The girls knelt on the rug before the drawer. “Ready?” Maisie whispered. Wren nodded. |
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