I am trying to start my New Year's resolution early and blog at least twice a month. Following is a short scene of one of the main characters in my first book, "The Peaks at the Edge of the World." This book is to be re-released, newly revised, this winter by my new publisher, First Steps Publishing. This scene isn't in the book, but is one that very well could be. It's a kind of "sound bite" of one of the themes of the book.
I looked up at Master Stone. "Sir, I don't understand why you're so opposed to books."
"Books are forbidden by the Council, lad." The man towered over me, and I tried to keep my head up and my eyes on him.
"But, sir, if we destroy all the old books, we'll lose the knowledge in them."
"Bah! All we need to know has now been programmed into the Terminals."
I wanted to say more, but my heart was pounding hard against my breastbone. 'What can we really trust?' I thought. 'How can we know for sure what's been kept and what's been deleted?'
He was still staring coldly at me, waiting for a response. 'Fight or fold?' I asked myself. Finally, I found my voice:
"My father often told me the best way to check the facts was to find the original document, sir."
"Well, all those so-called originals are digitized now, Jael," he snapped. "Old books just waste space."
"Very well, sir. I will accept your opinion." 'For now,' I added to myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment