Rally over to Smashwords to pick up the free books I've posted there. My Holiday gift to everyone!
John
I just made available free copies of the first stories from the Baker Street Adventures, Perihelion, Lord When, Young King Arthur and many others on Smashwords.
Escape to Adventure, Volume One: The Dreamers Awaken;Cartoon, Episode One -- Shades of Gray The Portal is Opening; To Hell and Back, Episode One: The Demon Lord; War of the Worlds, Volume One, The Forever Friends; Time Swirl A Binky Adventure; Young King Arthur Dawn of the Light Episode One, The King of Threads; Perihelion, Episode One: The Convolution; and Journey to the Center of the Earth
Just click on the above links to grab some free reads!
My Christmas present to everybody!
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Chapter Nine of "The Shasta Caper" is now posted.
Chapter Nine
He adjusted his orange robes so they wouldn't tangle in his
legs as he dropped into the martial arts pose he had been taught by the Master.
The Master looked at him along his squat orange nose and
smiled. "You must move as gracefully as a drop of water from a bee's leg
and as fast as the dart of a hummingbird."
Gung Suay nodded, causing his long pig tail to toss behind
his back.
The other students of the Master stood in an array about the
two of them.
The Master had promised this would be the last test before
Gung Suay was given the Orange Belt, a symbol of mastery of perfect balance
between spiritual and physical forces. He was proud to be facing his Master
this day, for he had been born to be a great fighter. He had known that from
the first day he had seen the Master easily take down a tiger with one blow,
without harming it, just putting it to sleep.
For the philosophy of the Master was Ahimsa, do no harm. It
was a term he had picked up from his travels in India with his wife Shanti,
whom he had met during his travels across China, teaching and practicing his
minimalist art, which involved using the hair of a fly to do three strokes on
the head of a grain of sand. His artwork was so precise and authentically
beautiful that even the Emperor of China had purchased all his work rather than
see it lost to the masses.
"Now, feel the force of your will coming into balance
with the force of the Light within, Gung Suay." The Master told him.
The Master's eyes narrowed. "You will only have one attempt to do this right.
Mastery can not come through repeats. You lose. You die."
"I understand, Master." He told him, again
loosening further his robes, for he knew his life depended on him being so
precise that even a blink could throw him off the mark.
The Master nodded, then reached into a satchel he carried
and brought out a deadly adder. If it struck you with its fangs, you would be
dead in five heartbeats.
The Master stroked its head gently. The creature was
mesmerized by the Master's touch and his energies, swaying gently as if drunk
by the exposure to the kindness of the Master.
The other pupils held their breathes, for the adder would be
a deadly dart once let go of, for the influence of the Master would be gone.
"Whatever happens, Gung Suay. I want you to know that I
am proud of you."
Gung Suay inclined his head in a semi-bow. "And I you,
Master."
When he looked up at the sound of gasps the adder was
already almost in the center of his chest. As quick as that glance was his
reflexes were faster, he curved slightly to the right and gently stroked the
adder's head, then tail as it passed him, then caught it in a furl of his robe
and gently unfurled it into his palm, where he blew his warm breath upon it.
The adder shot up as if to strike him, then it went limp and
lay in his palm and went to sleep.
The pupils all burst into applause.
The applause startled the adder and it struck Gung Suay by
accident.
He saw a beautiful halo of white light grow before him and
his Master's smiling face, then he stepped into the light and was gone.
WHAM!
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