An Untitled Novel About the Road of Hope: Chapter 1.9

Chapter 1.9.1

[ Chapter 1.1 is here. ]

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October 22, 2023

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Remus moved a tuft of hair from Lumi’s face. Then he held her hand and gently patted it. When she awoke, he put a finger over his mouth to be quiet. He motioned to her to follow him.

…

“Why do you all wear sunglasses when you sleep?” Remus asked her when they were away from the trucks.

“Because the future is bright,” Lumi answered with a sleepy smile.

An Untitled Novel About the Road of Hope: Chapter 1.8

Chapter 1.8.1

[ Chapter 1.1 is here. ]

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21 October 2023

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Those who run the road of despair are driven by an unquenchable thirst for vengeance. It does not lead to freedom, regardless of any undeserved and fleeting victories that chance throws to us like a clean bone is thrown to dogs. That road runs to dead ends: slavery, self-deceit and defeat.

On the road of despair, never can there be enough. Nor peace. Neither forgiveness nor thanksgiving will fly from our heart or lips when we run that unfortunate and much traveled highway. But if thanks, praise and forgiveness never fly from our hearts and lips, neither will they fly to perch upon new blessings, new tomorrows and hope’s renewal.

On the road of despair, we only take possession of lesser treasures by force, deceit and theft: knick knacks, kitsch and all the other counterfeits of joy, love, and peaceful heart. But thieves, they never enjoy the hospitalities afforded to honored and cherished guests: generosity, kindness and love – among other good things.

 – Dio

And dogs fed upon fatted cats.

October 2023

A scene from Chapter 1.1 in Book of Carrot, my novel about the endtimes. http://wp.me/pbg0R-98

Artists: Madalina Cristea and Mihai Stets

Creative Commons license for this graphic as follows: Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA

Madalina Cristea
http://dmonss-mady.deviantart.com
http://www.facebook.com/Madeline.Cristea

Mihai Stets
http://smihailangelo.carbonmade.com

Note: You can submit fan art to stan(dot)faryna(at)gmail.com. Please provide contact information (FB, website, etc. so I can include it like I’ve done above). Unless otherwise specified, all works submitted will be considered as released by the author under the Creative Common’s Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA.

An Untitled Novel About the Road of Hope: Chapter 1.7

Chapter 1.7.1

[ Chapter 1.1 is here. ]

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John paid the daily pass at the entrance of Cismigiu Park next to the Cretulescu palace. Hachi was pulling at the leash – he needed to do some business.

They walked down the steps to the swan and duck pond. Looking around, John didn’t see any park guards, so he let Hachi off leash. Hachi stopped to bark at a flock of black swans making a commotion. Then he ran past the long line for the spring and disappeared.

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“K- Message to Steve. Dad said that he’d love to do the speaking engagement. You know my account. Catch you laterz.”

“Ok. Sending message to Steve.”

…

“Incoming call from Zach…”

“Unc!”

John heard a commotion on the other side of the call. It sounded like cows, chickens and pigs.

An Untitled Novel About the Road of Hope: Chapter 1.6

Chapter 1.6.1

[ Chapter 1.1 is here. ]

…

Hope and despair will be mistaken for each other. But, in fact, despair is the opposite of hope. It is a vice that stirs men and women to terrible action. Murder. And not just sometimes. Because despair pleads with us to explore the empty promises of gluttony, greed and all the other deadly sins. By any and all means necessary.

Because the road of hope is longer than the legs of our pride, folly and wicked designs.

Some will mistake a road of despair for a road of hope because, for most of us, the roads wind together in our braided journey. The former is a violent and noisy road. It is a dark, angry and lonely road. That road of despair is paved with the unevenly worn and broken cobblestones of envy, jealousy and bitter disappointment.

The road of despair wearies the foot, cracks the heel, turns ankles, stubs the toe, and consumes our feet with dust and painful reminders.

– Dio

An Untitled Novel About the Road of Hope: Chapter 1.5

Chapter 1.5.1

[ Chapter 1.1 is here. ]

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Cismigiu lake sparkled with sun light and reflected the blue sky above. The trees swayed gently with a breeze. Lovers pedaled small boats. In the distance, Peacocks whooped and black swans honked. Small birds chirped.

A group of pretty girls in short skirts passed by.

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“K-9. Who’s here?”

 “Do you want to know who’s in Cismigiu Park? Sector 1? Bucharest? Or do you need more options?” asked K-9.

John selected “Cismigiu Park” with a glance.

“83 People have mobile or other wireless devices. 1 Family Member. 3 Friends. 20 People are a friend of your friends. 38 people who are a friend of your friend’s friend,” answered K-9.

“Small world,” John thought to himself as he looked at strangers who were actually more related to him than he could imagine.

…

“I’ll give you a kiss for one Euro,” offered a high school hottie with a big, bright smile.

An Untitled Novel About the Road of Hope: Chapter 1.4

Chapter 1.4.1

[ Chapter 1.1 is here. ]

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01 July 2023
Buchrest, Romania

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John was waiting for Hachi to do doggy business. He put on his new K-9 hyper-intelligent eyewear. They looked like designer sunglasses.

“K-9. Play song. Placebo. Running Up That Hill.”

“Yes, Master,” replied K-9.

…

A sudden wave of sadness washed over him.

Unbid tears filled John’s eyes. He gasped for air. He closed his eyes.

…

And if only I could make a deal with God. And get him to swap our places. Be running up that road. Be running up that hill…

Tears streamed down John’s face.

An Untitled Novel About the Road of Hope: Chapter 1.3

Chapter 1.3.1

[ Chapter 1.1 is here. ]

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Max and Grace missed their shots at the bare-footed man. Missing just didn’t make sense to them. They were all good shots.

“WTF!” texted Max and Grace!

“Tough audience!” observed the bare-footed man and laughed.

…

Zach and Eree lifted the barrels of their shotguns. At the same time, the bare-footed man lifted John off his feet and heaved John toward Eree.

The bare-footed man threw the bloody tanto at Daniel’s feet and pushed the barrel of Zach’s shotgun to the side as it went off. Daniel yelled out as the hot salt shot hit his hand as he reached for the tanto.

…

Motorcycles were getting around the burning wreckage. Lumi, Max and Grace gave cover fire.

“Let’s chat again. Soon!”

Once upon a time. Europe was where the best of culture was at.

Europe

I used to think that Europe was where the best of human culture is. It’s normal for an American kid with middle class dreams and aspirations. America has deep roots in Europe.

I worked after school to save up money for my high school trips to Europe. I mopped the floor. I took out the garbage. I stocked refrigerators and shelves. I washed the dishes. I delivered subs and pizzas. I even mowed lawns. The boss had rental homes too.

And when I graduated from high school, I went on a grand tour of Europe. I couldn’t afford to do it in style like my once favorite author, Marcel Proust, did holidays. But I did go places, see things, make friends, etc. I slept in trains, train stations, on Greek beaches, and even some famous places you might know about – The Spanish Steps of Rome among them.

I continued to make my cultural pilgrimages to Europe into my adult-life. And, finally, I moved here. That was an accomplishment!

I’ve been here about 10 years and I can tell you that there’s some big problems here – problems that reflect only glimpses of that cynical and cruel capacity of the much admired European sophistication.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love Europe. But I love the USA more. More and more, in fact, as I come to a better understanding of the world.

Christian v. Christian

This Palm Sunday, VMRO (BMPO) thugs attacked peaceful church-goers as seen in this Youtube video. http://bit.ly/eGqsyZ

Palm Sunday is a Christian celebration of Christ’s return to Jerusalem in preparation for his sacrifice. It is also a reminder of the Christian anticipation of Christ’s triumphant second coming. Palm Sunday illuminates the Christian story of crowds welcoming Christ into the city with palm branches – symbols of joy and triumph.

VMRO is a Nationalist Orthodox Christian movement that is growing in popularity in Bulgaria, a European nation. Bulgaria, however, is not the only European state to see fascist currents rising in the public square. The French,  Germans and Italians are unembarrassed to declare that Multiculturalism is something that Europeans don’t view as worthwhile.

To paraphrase one popular German politician speaking about the so-called Muslim problem, “They can live and work here, but they are not entitled to the rights and dignity that are shared by our native people and citizens.”

In the hate crimes depicted in the video, these are actually Bulgarians assaulting Bulgarians. Worse, these are Christians (Bulgarian Orthodox) attacking Christians (Jehovah’s Witnesses). In the opinion of the Bulgarian Orthodox extremists, there is no place for dissident opinion (private, public, religious or otherwise) in Bulgaria.

Bummer

Myself, I love Bulgaria as a tourist. I have a long list of Bulgarian products that I fan including jam, brandy and soap made with Bulgarian Rose petals. There’s a culture of art, music, food, and wine there that I love.

Did I mention that one of my favorite drinking wines is Thracian’s Mystery from Todoroff?

I’ve even considered relocating to Bulgaria.

In Romania, the mainstream media are reporting that the Jehovah Witnesses provoked the attack. As you can see for yourself in the video, the Jehovah witnesses were at their place of worship, turning the other cheek, and getting their asses kicked.

Prayers

My prayers go out to the Jehovah’s Witnesses injured and terrorized in this video. My prayers also go out to all peoples who are not free and at ease to peacefully pursue good conscience, prudence and wisdom.

My prayers go to you in the world – you who can make this a better world by sharing insight and wisdom according to your conscience. And, yeah, my prayer to you are CCed to God.

DON’T be surprised if He mentions them on judgment day. <grin>

Stan Faryna
19 April 2011
Bucharest, Romania

If you’d like to connect with me, follow @Faryna and tweet me up on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/faryna

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About Stan Faryna

Mr. Faryna is the founder and co-founder of several technology, design and communication companies in the United States and Europe including Faryna & Associates, Inc., Halo Interactive, and others.

Stan Faryna served as a Global Voices author and translator. Global Voices is a non-profit global citizens’ media project founded at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, a research think-tank focused on the Internet’s impact on society.

His political, scholarly, social and technical opinions have appeared in The Chicago Defender, Jurnalul National, The Washington Times, Sagar, Saptamana Financiara, Social Justice Review, and other publications.

Mr. Faryna also served as editor-in-chief of Black and Right (Praeger Press, 1996), a landmark collection of socio-political essays by important American thinkers including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Copyright

Copyright 1996 to 2012 by Stan Faryna.

Here’s my fair use policy for my content: If you want to share my content with your own audience, you may quote a brief excerpt, if and only if, you provide proper attribution (Source: The unofficial blog of Stan Faryna) with a direct link to the source. Generally speaking, as long as you are not acting as an agent or on behalf of a corporation or institution, I am not interested in any payment for the quotation or use of a complete article. Nevertheless, you may not republish or translate the entire article without my written permission. Send your request for permission via Facebook. Or tweet me up me on Twitter.

An Untitled Novel About the Road of Hope: Chapter 1.2

Chapter 1.2.1

[ Chapter 1.1 is here. ]

…

The bare-footed man took a long, hard drag on the cigarette and looked at Zach.

“I lost sons, today. Can I tell you how that makes me feel?! I’m lost! I’m mad as hell! I’m broken.

Do you know what it’s like to be the bad man? The sad man… behind blue eyes?”

…

“It’s him,” said John.