Today I'm shining a spotlight on "Rarity from the Hollow" by Robert Eggleton. Make sure to check it out!
Summary:
Lacy Dawn's father
relives the Gulf War, her mother's teeth are rotting out, and her best friend
is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in the hollow is hard. She has
one advantage -- an android was inserted into her life and is working with her
to cure her parents. But, he wants something in exchange. It's up to her to
save the Universe. Lacy Dawn doesn't mind saving the universe, but her family
and friends come first.
Rarity
from the Hollow is adult literary science fiction filled with
tragedy, comedy and satire.
“The most enjoyable science fiction novel I have read in
years.”
—Temple Emmet Williams,
Author, former editor for Reader’s
Digest
“Quirky, profane, disturbing… In the space between a
few lines we go from hardscrabble realism to pure sci-fi/fantasy. It’s
quite a trip.”
—
Evelyn Somers, The Missouri
Review
.
"…a hillbilly version of Hitchhiker’s
Guide to the Galaxy…what I would have thought impossible;
taken serious subjects like poverty, ignorance, abuse…tongue-in-cheek
humor without trivializing them…profound…a funny book that most
sci-fi fans will thoroughly enjoy." -- Awesome Indies (Gold
Medal)
“…sneaks up you and, before
you know it, you are either laughing like crazy or crying in despair, but the
one thing you won’t be is unmoved…a brilliant writer.” --Readers’ Favorite (Gold
Medal)
“Rarity from the Hollow is an original and interesting story
of a backwoods girl who saves the Universe in her fashion. Not for the
prudish.” —Piers Anthony,
New York Times bestselling author
“…Good satire is hard to find and science
fiction satire is even harder to find.” -- The Baryon Review
Excerpt: Rarity from the Hollow, Chapter 2,
Recess
……Designated to be consolidated, the school received little maintenance except to reduce liability. The playground had a chain link fence with vines growing through the diagonals, squeaky swings so loud that everyone on recess had to holler, and two teeter-totters with splinters that targeted fresh butt. Only one improvement had been added during the last three years of consolidation controversy. Pieces of shredded car tires were put under the monkey bars to cushion falls.
During recess, the teachers smoked cigarettes behind the corner of the brick school building. It was a designated smoking spot so that students wouldn't be exposed to bad influence. Consequently, the playground was without adult supervision.
"Why do you want to feel angry so often?" Lacy Dawn (the eleven year old protagonist) asked Faith (Lacy Dawn’s best friend and classmate).
"Why not?"
"It messes up your digestion and gives you the farts."
"I like to fart – silent and deadly," Faith said.
"I've noticed." Lacy Dawn moved toward the gang hanging out under the monkey bars. They were older kids who lived on the hard road and who had parents who had been employed before the coal mine shut down. They still thought they had money.
"My dad got a call about a job in Cleveland. What do you think, Lacy Dawn? Your mommy was born there. Is it cool? Will I meet Eminem?" the tallest kid asked.
"Does your daddy still hit your mommy when he gets drunk?” Lacy Dawn asked.
"Sometimes, but what's that got to do with Cleveland?"
"Everything."
The tall kid grabbed the monkey bars and went to its end. His tip-toes touched the shredded tires. It was easier because the ground was several inches higher than before the shreds had been laid. Nobody acknowledged the achievement and all awaited his response. “When we get to Cleveland, I'll stand up to him. I promise,"
"You'd better or she'll know," Faith pointed at Lacy Dawn.
"I know." The tall kid sat on the rung that had broken off his front tooth two grades before.
"Why'd you tell him that?" Lacy Dawn whispered in Faith's ear. "I ain't got that kind of magic yet and you know it. I can only see inside people when they’re right in front of me. Cleveland’s a long way off and, besides, Eminem’s from Detroit."
Faith shrugged.
"My mom and dad don't ever hit me. Sometimes, I wish they would. I do stuff so they will, but it don't ever work," the next tallest kid in line for therapy disclosed.
"Parents use different styles of redirection. Yours use guilt." Lacy Dawn said.
"Yeah, I cut myself once. See. It helped a little, but I would really appreciate a switch every now and then."
"Don't fetish,” Lacy Dawn said. “Relax. You're a good kid and your parents want switched, too. It's not your daddy's fault that the mine shut down. He feels guilty about not being a good provider and gets rid of it by giving it to you." Lacy Dawn kissed the scar on the kid's arm above the bottom of his shirt sleeve.
The crowd went "Ooohhhh…" when the scar seemed to fade.
"You're a good doctor, Lacy Dawn," echoed the crowd.
"Next!" a kid who lay on top of the monkey bars above the gang yelled.
"Give me your shit, Ronny,” Lacy Dawn instructed. “But, don't you ever say anything bad about Faith ever again. I'll vex you into eternity. You've been giving her a hard time since the first grade. It ain't fair."
"Sorry,” Ronny said. “I'm just so sad all the time. I take it out on anybody that will react and she's an easy target – fat and ugly."
"Next year, she'll be hot. She'll give you a hard-on that won't go down for days. You'll regret every mean thing you ever said to her."
Faith moved into position to punch his exposed belly.
"I already regret everything," Ronny said, “everything.”
"Your parents thought if they taught you how to predict consequences of your behavior you would exercise self-control. You learned it too good and now you go over and over every little detail. Before you do something mean, just take a few slow, deep breaths and you won't hit anybody anymore. Then, you will have less regret. When you stop being mean, I'll help you fix your depression. But, if you ever say one mean thing about Faith again, I'll let her kick your ass like it's never been before," Lacy Dawn said.
"My mommy don't do nothing but watch soaps," a girl in the second said.
"Mine too," three smaller children gathered for wisdom.
Cigarette smoke formed a cloud that floated from around the corner of the building. Only one female teacher still had a husband and he had been jailed for manufacturing meth after their house caught on fire. It was another tidbit of conversation during an extra-long recess disallowed by the State Board of Education. Recess was the most productive part of the school day because of Lacy Dawn's magic way of helping others.
"I wish I had a husband," the only male teacher employed by the school yelled loud enough for the kids to hear above the squeaky swings.
“There goes Mr. I’m Gay again,” a boy said.
“He’s so boring,” another said. The crowd nodded.
"I wish I could fix my own family," Lacy Dawn whispered to Faith.
"It's a kid's job to help her parents and any kid who don't ain't much of a kid and maybe don't even deserve to live!" Faith yelled louder than Mr. I’m Gay. It was her daily speech to classmates.
The school bell rang to return to the classrooms. Another fifteen minutes was left before compliance was expected. Several kids gathered tighter around the monkey bars to try to get attention from Lacy Dawn. The healthier ones played more or less organized dodge and kick ball games in opposite corners of the playground.
Like the center on a football team’s front line, Faith tried to look mean by grimacing and folding her arms. It was a body-guard-like role so the others used her as an avenue to Lacy Dawn by lining up. A first grader pulled down her shorts to show a blue bruise on her butt. Faith rolled her eyes and turned away. A fourth grader opened his mouth and pointed inside but Faith didn't look. A girl in the fifth who sat beside her in class pointed to her crotch. Tears streamed. Faith winced for a moment but screened her out by turning her head. Not today, Britney. Lacy Dawn only has so much magic at any given time. She needs to recharge. Everybody has issues and tissues. You can be first tomorrow.
A fight broke out in the far corner of the playground. The games stopped and the kids rushed for the better entertainment. Lacy Dawn and Faith followed to get a good place to watch. The teachers saw the action and either returned to the building or gathered behind the crowd to bet on the winner.
"She called my mommy a HO," a second grader with a bloody nose accused a sixth grader and swung air.
"But she is. My daddy told me. I didn't mean to make you mad," the sixth grader tried to maintain a distance by stepping back. "I'm sorry. I don't even know what it means."
"A Ho is a person who has a lot of indiscriminant sex," the smartest girl in school except for Lacy Dawn said to show off. Brittany put on her headphones and walked toward the school to prepare for the next spelling bee, which would include the word “indiscriminate.”
Faith picked up the dodge ball and beamed Brittany in the back of the head.
################
About the Author: Robert Eggleton has served as a children's advocate in an
impoverished state for over forty years. He is best known for his investigative
reports about children’s programs, most of which were published by the West
Virginia Supreme Court where he worked from 1982 through 1997, and which also
included publication of models of serving disadvantaged and homeless children
in the community instead of in large institutions, research into foster care
drift involving children bouncing from one home to the next -- never finding a
permanent loving family, and statistical reports on the occurrence and
correlates of child abuse and delinquency. Today, he is a recently retired
children's psychotherapist from the mental health center in Charleston, West Virginia,
where he specialized in helping victims cope with and overcome physical and
sexual abuse, and other mental health concerns. Rarity from the Hollow is his
debut novel and its release followed publication of three short Lacy Dawn
Adventures in magazines: Wingspan Quarterly, Beyond Centauri, and Atomjack
Science Fiction. Author proceeds have been donated to a child abuse prevention
program operated by Children’s Home Society of West Virginia.
http://www.childhswv.org/ Robert continues
to write fiction with new adventures based on a protagonist that is a composite
character of children that he met when delivering group therapy services. The
overall theme of his stories remains victimization to empowerment.
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