Genres: Literary FictionBlurb:
Earl Hollsopple lived on the edge of civilization in a deserted shack for nearly forty years. His life was one beautiful night of stargazing after another, until a helicopter flies overhead, and exposing his meager world. It is a sign; it is time for him to return to civilization.Unknowingly, Earl’s journey parallels another he had deeply repressed, and that is his return from the Vietnam War. The lone survivor of a plane crash, Earl waits for rescue that never comes. He is left to find his way home alone.On his quests, old Earl and young Earl learn lessons of survival, overcoming isolation and handling conflicts; his travels teach him not just about himself, but humankind. Reaching pivotal points in both journeys, Earl meets fateful loves, leading to destinies that are ultimately intertwined.Everything in life circles until we are able to answer the riddles that plaque man and humanity. Only until we take the journey, solve the problems of our own existence, do we find our way home.
Excerpt 1:
Such a strange array of coincidences found old and outcast Earl in a hotel room with a beautiful young woman. He stood in the doorway and looked at his reflection in the mirror. It was the first time he saw himself in plain view—a realistic view. Inspecting his gray hair and wrinkles, he realized he was old. How did that happen? In the reflection of the mirror, he saw Elisabeth undress in the bathroom.
Dinosaurs and aliens could not terrify him more than Elisabeth at this very moment. Where have I been? Am I a man of flesh and blood or a true aberration? Years of being nothing more than a mind of complex thoughts of the stars had passed him by, now he was physical flesh. He wanted to run, but found his feet cemented to the floor. Surely, this was going to be my demise.
Elisabeth turned toward him—naked. She opened her arms to him. “You’re filthy. Care to join me in the shower?”
Earl looked over his shoulder and then down at his feet—anything to escape looking at her. “I ah…”
She walked to him. Slowly she removed his aviator cap and ran her fingers through his gray hair. “The gray in your hair matches the color of your eyes.”
He looked down at her blue eyes, muddied with eyeliner and heavy mascara that ran down her cheek over her freckles. She unzipped his coveralls and pulled the collar down over his shoulders. Earl allowed his clothing to fall around his boots. “I’ll let you remove your boots,” she said with a seductive smile as she stepped inside the shower.
Earl could say nothing and he could not move, surprised by her seduction. Once again conscious of his current situation, he too was naked and stepping into a shower raining hot water. His face buried into the young woman’s shoulder, his past flashed briefly, hinting of a past love.
Excerpt 2:
The screen door swung open with the ringing of a bell. “Georgina!”
She loved to hear her name shouted with such passion and exclamation. It made her feel young and desired. Turning around, she beamed a crooked smile and once again, she was a twenty-year-old beauty.
“Heya Earl.” Georgina admired his coveralls and aviator cap. “What’s with the getup, Earl? You look like you’re about to fly away.”
Earl swaggered to the counter. “It’s time, Georgina, I’m leaving town.” His eyes shifted around the shelves of dusty cans and tattered boxes. “I’m going to need a few things for the journey.”Georgina came around the counter and followed his eyes, picking out his purchase—can of stew, spam and sardines—before he had the chance to choose. “What do you mean you’re leaving? Where are you going?”
“Home,” he said.
“Where’s home Earl? You’ve been living in that abandoned mine since I knew ya,” replied Georgina. “How can you go back to nowhere?”
Earl grunted. “I don’t know. I just know it’s time to go.” He focused on the whiskey bottles behind the counter. “And a couple of those.”
“Well, hold on a second.” Georgina stepped into a small, neatly organized office and retrieved a dusty bottle of fine Scotch from the shelf. She returned and presented it to him, accompanied with two glasses. “Let’s drink to your journey and for old time sakes.”
Earl released a boyish grin that Georgina always had difficulty resisting. “Georgina, you are a woman who knows the way to my heart.”
“If only I could get you drunk, I might be able to bring you to your senses.”
She opened the back door to her garden oasis of native rocks, several potted plants, and a faded awning to keep cool; a beautiful garden tilled by a hardened woman. Earl was a mystery to her. She wondered what brought him to the outskirts of civilization. Did he share a story similar to hers of disappointment and lost love, or was it something different entirely? As often as she had tried, she was never able to get an answer to Earl’s past.Excerpt 3:
Earl munched on a Mango and waved away palm leaves, as he sung every song on the Beatle’s White Album to keep him company and sane.
Have you seen the little piggies
Crawling in the dirt
And for all the little piggies
Life is getting worse.
Earl was careless of his steps when he came through the dense brush and to an area completely blackened and charred. He paid little attention until something caught his attention; it was a bloody arm with no body attached.
“Helter Skelter!” he yelled, finding himself in Hell. He could go back the way he came, or face the carnage and walk through it. Something inside him hinted life was on the other side.
Earl tried not to look, but it was hard not to see dead babies, cradled in the arms of their rotting mothers. Heads and innards littered the field with birds of prey and earthly scavengers fighting for food. Closing his eyes, he choked away his tears and his disgust. Well, at least animals benefit from man’s carnage.
He put his goggles on to obstruct his peripheral vision. Focusing only on his footsteps, Earl stepped across the field, avoiding any patches of red, but he could not escape the dead eyes that stared at him.
When he made it to the other side, Earl collapsed by a tree and vomited. He looked up at the sky; he wished he could be there—anywhere but here. Earl urgently searched through his satchel; he had to find his journal and write down his thoughts.
Littered and disfigured by the heat
Trampled down by uncaring feet
Boys and girls left out to die
By a swarm of large insects in the sky.
How unfortunate I am to wander
Through the bodies that lay asunder
Is this the punishment for what I’ve done
Horrendous deeds civilian man will shun.
Earl closed his journal, burying his visions within the pages. It was out now, no going back, never to visit again.
Edge of Civilization Verse
I left her there among the stars
She’s waiting for my return
With patience that chills her yearn
For a man whose lost his way
On Earth’s dusty haze
I left her there supported by the stars
They huddle to her aid
When her mind often weighed
With thoughts of my demise
Through many suffocated cries.
I left her there surrounded by the stars
It was for her own protection
But walking alone I felt her connection
I know my heart she cannot replace
And the love she has for my race. ***
Soggy drawers, stinky feet.
only squiggly crickets for me to eat.
Oh, dear God, how did I ever deserve this fate
With grey-bearded monkeys to take on dates.
I guess I sit below the rambutan
And wait for the Vietcong. ***
In the darkness, I have no fright
I sit still, so no one can see me.
I stop breathing, so no one can hear me.
I close my mind, so no one can read me.
I am non-existent with no memories.
In the darkness, I am safe***Littered and disfigured by the heatTrampled down by uncaring feet
Boys and girls left out to die
By a swarm of large insects in the sky.
How unfortunate I am to wander
Through the bodies that lay asunder
Is this the punishment for what I’ve done
Horrendous deeds civilian man will shun.
***
The stars are shining bright above the Acacia tree,
Filtering light through the branches as messages for me,
If only I can decode its secrets for me and humanity.
What a sorry lot we are, desperate for a little score,
We’d give ourselves up, even those we must adore,
To wrap a bandage around our heart’s open sore.
The stars are shining bright above the Acacia tree,
Strands of light illuminate a space for me to see
The entire universe’s grandeur in store for me.
***
The land is a mystery to me,
Its people even to a greater degree,
So peaceful they bow, so stern they confound.
The land is a mystery to me,
Folklore weaves its stories
From mystic scenery to concrete compounds.
This land holds a mystery to me,
Holding the key to my destiny,
To wherever this train is bound.”
***
Names etched on marble
What’s it all for?
What’s the memory of a name
When the identity is not plain.
Without the name to the face
Another man can easily replace.
What’s with these names
And what is to be gained?
Names etched on marble
Who is it for?
The names immortalized before
Of the guilt of those who endured.
The damage has been done
Lies left only to be sung.
***
From a distance they seemed quite plain
Closer view their sight inspired disdain
With faces that rang alarms
But eyes that show no harm
Their deformity sends chills of fright
Yet no one knows their true plight
It is me they beg for small change
Yet it is my mind they rearrange
These humans of alien form
Challenge all society’s norms
We cannot escape what we outcast
Living on the edge of humanity massed.
***
Buy Link:About the Author:Inspiration comes from watching way too much Monty Python. The abstract and the absurd way of looking at normal life, not only offers humor, but questions many problems in society in a light-hearted manner. If we can laugh at ourselves, if we can laugh at life, problems do not seem quite so difficult to tackle. In fact, problems are not as complicated as they seem; everything is very simple. If you can laugh at it, write about it and read about it, most likely one would think about it.Author Jennifer Ott has written several satire fiction, Wild Horses, The Tourist and two non-fiction books Love and Handicapping and Ooh Baby Compound Me! She recently published, Serenidipidus and Edge of Civilization. She also is the host of the SuperJenius Internet Radio show on Artist First radio Network.Jennifer Ott lives in Long Beach, California, enjoys the sun, the sand, the surf and lots of Mexican food.Author Links:Giveaway:Author Jennifer Ott is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card on Rafflecopter and two print copies of Edge of Civilization on Goodreads!
The rafflecopter giveaway is open internationally, the Goodreads giveaway is open to residents in the USA, CA, GB, and AU.
Enter 3/14/14 – 3/28/14.
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