Preface

Hawthorne gives his introduction, a change is upon his world.

My name is Hawthorne. I am 24. I sit here now in a cellar, because I have been condemned of a crime. The crime of insulting faith is punishable by death nowadays. Who would have thought, that something so trivial would turn into something so, well, there we go, my meal is here.

                “You really should have learned to keep your mouth shut, Hawthorne. You were a good kid, on your way to becoming a great writer.  I remember when you were just a lad, you always were stubborn, and you always did stand out. Now look where that’s got you, in the cellar, needing to be kept under check by me,” Officer Greyson said as he slid the box of food through a small hatch in the cell, the rest of it was made of bullet proof glass, 4 inches thick, and impenetrable to all but the most powerful weapons. 

                “Thank you, Officer,” I said opening the box up. Rice and Chicken in chili sauce, delicious. “Perhaps this isn’t so bad after all. I mean, I get 3 square meals a day, a place to exercise, and I get to read the news. Not only that this cellar is pretty comfy, and if you think about it, I’m a lot safer in here than out there.”

                “You’re a funny lad, that you are, always were. I had you placed under my watch for a reason. Put you in any old cellar and you’d have been dead within the hour. Those people are ruthless out there you know. Ever since he took over, the world hasn’t been the same.”

                “You mean that religious nuthead, Jacob Steinworth. That was 16 years ago, ever since then, this country hasn’t been the same.”

                “I understand your plight, my nephew was actually in the same position as you 10 years ago when they brought the hammer down on science, and all science had to be approved by the church.”

                “It’s the same no matter where you go, you’ve got Judeo-Christian empire in the west, and the East is divided into the Muslims and the Hindu’s, with a few Buddhists taking shelter under the latter. Even being a moderate is considered dangerous, let alone a secularist such as myself.  The world has turned into an unholy battlefield, where mortal blood is shed over the idea of an immortal holy being.”

                “I surprised that the publishing company even tried to put your book out.”

                “Well it did pass the censor board. It was one of the 5 anti-theist books they allow to be published, so that they can seem democratic, and tolerant. However, seeing as the public has become otherwise, within 2 days of being on the shelves, a warrant was put up for my arrest, and well here I am. It’s better than being out there. I heard they were burning copies. That by this point, a month later, there are none left in circulation.”

                “I think this might cheer you up just a bit.” Officer Greyson went over to his desk, removed a bunch of papers and folders, opened what seemed to be a secret compartment, and pulled out a musty old book, The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins; that must have been published at least 50 years ago, and most of those were burned 12 years back, I can’t believe one’s safe.

                “Well then officer,” I said as I scurried over to my pillow, I then quickly pulled out a hidden revolver, held him hostage and escaped from the cell. THE END

                Just kidding, I pulled out something far more illegal (by the way guns aren’t illegal, people of great faith are allowed to posses handguns).  It was my book. The first ever copy of the book, Fallen Angel . “Here you go officer, a fair trade. I hope you will enjoy it.”

Reviews

[Talismanic]

This has a lot of depth, the idea is very intense but your writing is clever and full of life. The only suggestion I would make is to do with dialogue - if you broke it up a little more it might sound direct and have more impact. For e.g. seperating speech, tag lines and action. “You really should have learned to keep your mouth shut, Hawthorne," Officer Greyson said. (this is an important introduction). "You were a good kid, on your way to becoming a great writer." ... He slid the box of food through...' I love how your narrator interupts himself to make comments and to make us feel present; he has a witty way of seeing things, a natural charismatic.

[Calypso]

I liked this. Good job.