Sunset in Sylvan Park by Brooks Kohler, 2011

Sunset in Sylvan Park is a story that takes place in Nashville, Tennessee. Upon graduating from college, the main character ventures to the city of Nashville to write a novel.

 

Sunset in Sylvan Park is a story that takes place in an actual community in West Nashville, Tennessee. The street names are real, the locations are real, but the characters are not.

Upon graduating from college, the main character, whose name remains a mystery because the story is told in first person, ventures to the city of Nashville to write a novel.

Struggling to find his “writer's voice,” the main character spends half his time touring the city with his neighbor Hollis, an alcoholic songwriter who is seldom in any shape to drive himself, and the other half with Casey, a college student who lives in the neighborhood.

Confronted with artists, songwriters, dreamers, and schemers, the main character must cope with his dream while others chase their own.

Heavy on sarcasm and layered with crude humor, Sunset in Sylvan Park may not be for the casual reader, but if you want a story to teach you something about relationships and ethics, you will want to read this story.

 

BEGIN EXCERPT_____

 

THE TRAVELERS (an excerpt from the novel Sunset Sylvan Park by Brooks Kohler © 2011.)

The morning of the trip was very chaotic. Odalitha wanted to leave no later than 9 a.m., but I was scheduled to pick up the rental car at 10 a.m. I explained to her that it was a special agreement between myself and the rental company. It made the car cheaper for me. Odalitha did not care. This only made her mad, and she acted like a snob. She started pouting and carrying on about how I should have been more considerate. To make matters worse, Beth and Jerry were late, and Jerry was supposed to drive me to the rental place. Casey was concerned. I was concerned.

 

“They should be here by now,” said Casey.

 

We both began to scan the horizon and listen for sounds. Charles came up to me, and in his own pathetic way, tried to ask the same thing that Odalitha had, but he failed miserably.

 

“Why don’t you just call them?” asked Charles.

“Because I can’t,” I replied. “It’s an agreement.”

“But why not?” he asked, again. “People break agreements all the time.”

“Because I can’t,” I said. “Now go! Do something. Leave me alone.”

 

If I had done the same thing to Hollis, I would have gotten chewed out, or worse, but Charles took it and sulked off. Odalitha did not. When she saw what I had done to her boyfriend, she became all defensive and starting yelling at me. It was awful. She was saying all these things about how I was just doing what I was to make the trip bad and that it was indicative of things to come. She even threatened to call her father and call the whole thing off.

 

“Don’t do that,” I said. “That would be stupid.”

Odalitha puffed.

“Yes, please,” added Casey, “don’t.”

 

Odalitha did what a snob does when winning; she turned on those who could not defend themselves. She walked over to Charles who was petting Sunrise. The pooch was panting and very relaxed. He got all excited when she came close and began to lick at her hands.

 

“Where’s your drunk friend?” she asked, chuckling at the licks.

“If you mean Hollis. . .”

“Who else?” she replied, cutting me off.

“He’s on his way,” I said, “but, please, don’t say that. He’s my friend, and he’s not done anything to you.”

“He hates dogs!” shouted Odalitha.

 

She dropped down and gave Sunrise a playful hug. I turned and cast a stare at Casey.

 

“You told her about that?” I asked.

 

Casey lowered her head.

 

“He does not hate dogs,” I said. “He just doesn’t like them in the house.”

“He hates dogs,” replied Odalitha.

 

What could I say? She was right. Hollis did hate dogs, and even if he did not, it would be no use to try to defend him. Odalitha was mad, but not at any one particular thing. She reminded me of a guy I knew in college who would get all bent out of shape before a big exam. He would go around worried for a week, get his notes, and never study. Then, on the night before the exam, he would cram, get up, take the exam, and score low. This would send him into a spin. He would go all over campus, angry. I once watched him punch a stop sign and split his knuckles. Blood went everywhere. He moaned in agony. It was one of the most disgusting things I had ever seen happen to another person. The gash was deep, the skin peeled back, and fillet. I could literally feel the injury as if it were my own.

 

“Now what am I going to do?” he asked.

“You should get that checked out,” I said.

 

A passing girl said the same thing.

 

“That professor should have done his job,” he said.

 

The girl gave him a curious look, and he just shook his head and walked away. He did not take my advice, and his hand became infected. He missed a lot of school for therapy and lost half a knuckle. Somebody told me he was a computer programmer in Nebraska. I hoped he was. I hoped he was doing well, but that was still no excuse. He wanted to make a point, and it cost him a knuckle. It was a stupid thing to do, and it occurred to me that lots of people do the same thing and have lost more. I looked sincerely at Odalitha and felt pity. I wondered how much she would lose in life if she did not stop wanting to prove a point.

 

“Well, look,” I said, to both Odalitha and Charles. “I’m sorry for what has happened.”

 

Casey came forward and apologized for how I had acted, but she did not have to. I stepped in and continued by telling Charles I was sorry, and said if I could have done any better, I would have. Odalitha just snubbed at this. She was sullen and walked off. Charles said nothing. He just followed.

 

“Why are they being like this?” asked Casey.

 

“’Cause they want to leave, and we are holding them back,” I said.

 

I turned, looked, and wondered where the hell everyone was.

Read the entire story.

Available for Kindle on Amazon.com click link to visit Amazon ebook 

Download for only $2.99. (Thanks for the support.)

 

Published by Laptiast in 2013. Cover Art courtesy of Unprofound.com

 

ISBN 978-0-9893355-0-8

Reviews

[Glen Yumang Manese]

Brooks - Good to read another of your works here at Writers Cafe...I like the introduction of the excerpt and then into the story line of the book...just busy at the moment with my book: The Onyx - Vena Amoris...did the first revision of the whole thing last night with 277 pages...I'm spent and sorry its taking me longer to get back with a review...lots on my plate at the moment...Please spread the word put for me...the release is next month in November...

[Zoey Ray]

This seem like a book I would like to read. I can't get too into it right now because i'm at school. I did read some of it though. I like the characters as well as the plot you explained in the description. Hopefully I'll get to read more soon. Thank you for sharing.