Twelve-year-old Simeon Gorecki lived in the tiny prairie town
of Ganatane, population 123 souls. Two years previously, he and his mother,
Maria Iohannes, had moved to Ganatene from Minnerane, a large metropolitan area
a hundred miles to the south. After Simeon’s father, Air Force Captain Ib
Gorecki, disappeared during the Assault of the Scorching Lands four years ago, Maria
became the family’s sole wage earner, working long hours as a nurse at the
Clearwater Lake Clinic to pay the ever-increasing rental costs on the family’s modest
townhome.
Maria was in poor health. Chemotherapy, radiation
treatments, and operations to remove her breasts, reproductive system, and
thyroid gland took a toll on her ability to perform the physically demanding
job she’d held for many years. There were no rental relief programs even for
individuals with severe disabilities. So, Maria took the money in the family’s
savings account and found an old house in the Northeastern territories where
she and Simeon could live without fear of their rent being raised.
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None yet. This is a WIP that I am submitting to Dragon Soul Press for potential inclusion in their Reign of Fire anthology.
https://dragonsoulpress.com/shortstorycalls/
Stories for Reign of Fire should be between 3000 and 15,000 words and are due by September 30. If you are interested in submitting a story of your own for Reign of Fire or checking out forthcoming DSP anthologies, please visit the preceding link. I am not affiliated with Dragon Soul Press; I am just passing along the information.
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A very small town! I wonder what adventures await there.
ReplyDeleteInteresting backstory - I love dystopian and post apocalyptic tales. Well done snippet! Makes me want to know more for sure.
ReplyDeleteSimon, and especially his mother, obviously have a very hard life. I hope the new one, in a new place, will be a better life for them. Tweeted.
ReplyDelete