The weather is cold, crisp, and exceedingly bright. A modest breeze rattles the bare sapling limbs. My grandparents’ bronze marker, set flush in the frosty ground, gleams at me new and polished in the afternoon sun.
Entwined roses decorate the edges, and LAKATOS dominates the top margin in shining capital letters. Below the family name are embossed Margit Anna on one side and Alois Istvan on the other. The words “Together Forever” appear along the lower edge.
“Isn’t that romantic?” Julie says.
“Yes ...”
I want to say something romantic, but unease is creeping into my heart. I glance around the barren landscape.
This is what everything comes to? Grandpa was one of the finest people I’ve even known, but he’s moved out of this world leaving only this burial marker behind. Is that my fate, as well – my path through life is to fade away like our footprints on the frosty grass?
Julie nestles against me, and I slip an arm around her waist. Beneath the winter coat, her body pulses with sexual vitality. My arm fits perfectly, as if it is custom made to encircle her. I kiss her hair lightly, intoxicated by her scent. I glance back down at the grave marker and jerk with surprise.
“Tyler, what’s wrong?” Julie says.
For an instant, there in the blinding reflection of the bronze, I see a message on the grave stone.
It reads: Keep going, boy!
Then it is gone, and the Together Forever inscription reappears.
On the gravel lane, just beyond catching, a lone figure moves rapidly away – jacket collar drawn up against the cold and a puffy green hat pulled low, obscuring his features.
THE END
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Reading Group Guide
Questions and Topics for Discussion
How important is it for people to follow their dreams? Are obligations to others more important? Can the two be reconciled, and if so, how?
This story talks about the fall of the Shah and the onset of the Islamic Republic. How do you see relations with Iran developing in the years ahead? Will the US and Iran become friends again, or is the split between them permanent?
South Korea has changed greatly since the events in this story. It is now a thriving democracy with one of the world’s most advanced economies. What do you see as the US role in Korea – in Northeast Asia generally?
China has fully emerged from the isolation it was still experiencing during this story. What does this mean for the US – for the world? Have we seen the end of American hegemony?
Where does your DAS ROAD lead? If you could take off for a two-year adventure, where would you go? What would you do?
Connect with the Author
Thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story.
Please visit my website and blog at: “The B2”
Brian’s Other Books
Here are brief descriptions of my other adult books. They are available at all major online retailers in ebook format. To find the relevant links, please visit my website at “The B2”
Return to Mech City
The end of the world as you’ve never seen it before. Life goes on in Mech City, but it is no longer human.
As mankind succumbs to its follies and exits the stage, scholar model robot, Winston Horvath, makes a perilous journey to Mech City, the place of his manufacture.
But Mech City is in a downward spiral. The robotic inhabitants, are turning to suicide or brigandage. Winston meets Star Power – the world’s only functional female robot. She and Winston “click,” but Winston cannot satisfy Star’s robust desires. She is on a whole new level of creation from him.
Things unravel when a despised test bed robot morphs into Fascista Ultimo and establishes a Roboto Fascist dictatorship. He has designs on Star. Winston flees with her to gather forces for a counter-coup and, perhaps, get himself upgraded so as to bring Star true satisfaction.
Science Fiction / Humor / Dystopian
Expedition Westward
Sequel to Return to Mech City
What is the cost of rediscovering true love in a shattered world? Whatever it might be, Star is willing to pay, or not survive the outcome. A trek along dangerous roads provides the answer. The dystopian adventure continues.
Science Fiction / Humor / Dystopian
Raptor Aces
The terrifying Zone of Destruction – ZOD, the absence of God. It has taken over the lives of the Raptor Aces, an elite Youth League air squadron and its commander, Dytran. They must overcome its toxic influence or face annihilation.
Dytran is the cream of his nation – proud, dynamic, convinced of his inherent superiority. Although a supporter and beneficiary of his totalitarian society, he lacks the brutal heart of the true fanatic. His world unravels when a poor decision goes horribly wrong, resulting in death and destruction. When his fighter ace brother is reported killed in the great Eastern war, the bottom goes out of his life.
An encounter with the Magleiter, leader of the nation, bucks him up. He grabs at a chance to volunteer for support aviation service in the war. At the front, he and his comrades encounter an enemy who is not the degenerate race of the propaganda broadcasts but a tough, resourceful foe. They are scattered to fend for themselves in a landscape so ravaged by war that normal reality has become unhinged. Dytran becomes swept up in violence and revenge until escape seems beyond reach.
New Adult / Action-Adventure / War
4th Musketelle
Trophy wife Laila Armstrong has chafed under the domination of husband Frank for fifteen years. When she learns that her adult “step children” are plotting to cut her out of their dad’s lucrative business affairs, she goes into panic mode.
Although Frank has yet to approve the plan, Laila fears the worst. She must act fast to avoid being thrown back into the poverty she escaped years earlier. Murder seems to be a reasonable solution – much better than a messy divorce and without so many lawyers involved.
Laila plots to use Frank’s infamous temper against him and make his death seem like a self-inflicted “accident.” Things don't work out as planned, though, and it’s not certain who will survive the final cut.
Dark Humor / Romantic Homicide
Career Moves for Burnt Out Personifications
Santa, the Grim Reaper, and others scramble to find new careers and identities. Outrageous political and social satire. “A smorgasbord of paranoid ramblings ideally suited to today's sensibilities.”
Humor / Political Satire
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