Host: Today is September 4th. S. R. Ford's latest book
Mimgardr will be released in two days on September 6th. Forty-eight hours. Can you believe it? I don't know about you, but I'm as excited as a puppy waiting for a Beggin' Strip.
As a special treat for you today, I'm very proud to introduce two people who are very important to this new story. They're my two special guests. Please welcome Dan Barker and Aaron Flanagan!
***Applause***
Host: Welcome, guys. It's great to have you here.
Mr. Barker: Glad to be here.
Mr. Flanagan: Thanks for having us.
Host: So, you've got a pretty big day coming up.
Both guests: Yes, we do.
Mr. Flanagan: And we're pretty excited. This is the beginning of our life story after all.
Host (holding up
Mimgardr): These are some pretty amazing events in here. How do you feel about revealing them to the world? Do you think you're ready for that?
(Guests look at each other)
Mr. Barker: Well, I have to say it's hard having my entire life open for review. My thoughts, actions, everything is open, and I only hope people will try to understand what we've been going through.
Mr. Flanagan: No kidding.
Host: So what would you say is a major theme for this book?
Mr. Flanagan: Know who your friends are. That's what I'd say. Know who your friends are, and stand by them.
Mr. Barker: That's a good way to put it, Aaron. (Turns to Host) When they were talking to us about the tagline for
Mimgardr, I told them it should be either "Sometimes we're our own worst enemy" or "How many times can one heart be broken?" But they decided to go a different route. I can't feel bad though; they had hundreds of good ideas.
Mr. Flanagan: Both of those would've worked though.
Host: Now, I have to ask: What was it like getting to see things firsthand that you thought never actually existed?
***Both guests laugh lightly***
Mr. Barker: Sometimes it was pretty amazing, and at others it was the exact opposite. You'll have to read and see which was which.
Mr. Flanagan: Well put.
Host: Well, gentlemen, I see you've brought a little clip of
Mimgardr. Can we share it with the audience?
Mr. Flanagan: Of course!
Host: But first, give a little heads up. What's going on in the clip?
Mr. Flanagan: This is the very beginning of the story, time-wise, where I find out that I've been targeted as part of a coup by my best friend.
Host (Pointing to Mr. Barker): And that mean's you. Doesn't it?
Mr. Barker: Yes it does.
Host: What a jerk...
***Laughter***
Host: You just can't trust anyone anymore, can you? (Turns to audience) Ladies and gentlemen, take a look:
Mimgardr
Chapter One
The King of Hearts
(Excerpt)
Copyright 2013 S. R. Ford
“Purcellville,” Aaron announced happily. “That’s
where we’re going.”
“What’s in Purcellville?” Dan asked as he raked a
hand through his black hair, ensuring that it remained swept back and parted
while the window was down and the wind rushed around them. Two things Aaron had
always admired about Dan were his well-kept, quite formal appearance and his
ability to keep his hair swept back and parted almost perfectly without gel or
hairspray. The combination had always lent Dan a hand up with the ladies.
“I got a
call this morning from a man in Purcellville,” Aaron replied, turning the company’s
white GMC Canyon up the on-ramp and onto the freeway. “He said he wants someone
to come by and do an evaluation. So I figured we’d get out of the office and go
ourselves for a change.”
“But why
are we going there now? The appointment isn’t until noon. You should’ve just
stayed out there in Hamilton, and I would’ve driven out to meet you before the
appointment.”
“Like I
can justify not showing up to work just because I have an appointment set up by
my house. Besides, I figured that if we were together we could talk to some people
out that way. They don’t see our company very often.”
“We’re
salesman in northern Virginia, Aaron. No one around here complains about not
seeing salesman, especially when they’re only home between seven at night and five
in the morning, thanks to commutes and traffic. And that’s if they’re lucky.”
“Remind me
why you bother working this job,” Aaron returned. “You’ve been doing this for
two years, and all you do is complain about it. If I hate this job as much as
you do when I’ve been here for two years, I’ll quit in a heartbeat.”
“I doubt
it. I stay because it’s what I’ve got. I don’t need to press my luck by
quitting when the economy is still so flimsy.”
Aaron
shrugged. “Good point. Are you still planning on heading back out west this autumn
then?”
“That’s
the plan,” Dan acknowledged happily. “Why don’t you lose that tie? The
temperature’s going to break ninety degrees today, and the humidity’s going
right up there with it. You’ll boil up if you wear a tie all day.”
“Aren’t we
supposed to look professional?” Aaron chided.
“Our
definition of professional doesn’t include a tie specifically. You know
me; I’m all for looking crisp and formal. But in this climate it’s hardly
appropriate. We just need to look respectable. You know, climate-appropriate business
casual. A white or blue button-up or polo shirt, slacks, and shiny shoes are
all we’re asked to wear. Unless we’re in the office, of course.”
“All right
then,” Aaron smiled, loosening the knot in his tie with one hand and pulling
the tail through his collar. “You’re the boss.”
“Anyway,
you should take some time off and fly out too. You could escape this Washington
to see your family in the other Washington.”
“I can’t.
I don’t have enough vacation days left.”
“Oh,” Dan
breathed, turning up the radio so the guitars and drums would overcome the roar
of the traffic around them. “So did you find a date for Friday?”
“I haven’t
had time to look. Besides, I haven’t been here long enough to meet anybody
worth asking.”
“Oh, and I
have been?” Dan retorted tauntingly. “I just got transferred into this sector a
few months ago, but I’ve got a date. Maybe we can find you someone
today. Can’t have you showing up dateless, now can we? We’ll just have you win
over some fine lady with those blue eyes of yours, and we’ll be all squared
away. You said you can sing like Sinatra, didn’t you?”
“I don’t
think flirting with girls is appropriate during work hours.”
“Of
course, it’s not. So we’ll do it during lunch. The way I see it is that we
don’t have to be back in Ashburn till three o’clock, and all we need to keep
the boss off our backs is a good enough report to justify driving out here
ourselves. So that’ll give us at least a little time to hunt down a date for
you.”
They
arrived in Purcellville around 9:45 AM and parked at the far end of a Bloom Market
parking lot. They walked the town and met several of the business owners,
including a print shop owner, a spa manager, and a few fast food joint supervisors.
As they were making their way around, Aaron noticed that the closer it came to
noon, the more fidgety and uncomfortable Dan became. Normally Dan was
sarcastic, funny, and quite well known for taunting people, but the closer the twelve
o’clock chime marched toward them, he became apprehensive and looked almost on
guard.
“What’s
wrong?” Aaron finally asked while they were eating lunch at the local Tropical
Smoothie Café.
“Nothing,”
Dan replied quickly. “Just thinking about stuff is all.”
“You look
scared to me.”
“We’ll see
who’s scared when I plant you in front of that blond girl over there at the counter.
She keeps looking over here at you.”
“Will you
stop trying to find me a date? I’m nineteen years old. I can get my own date.”
“Do it
then,” Dan challenged with a wink. “Or a twenty-one-year-old will do it for
you.”
“You’re twenty,”
Aaron corrected with little enthusiasm.
“I’m
closer to being twenty-one than twenty,” Dan shot back. Then he stood and swept
the wrappers from his tray into the waste bin a few tables over. “We’ll have to
stop by and talk to her on our way out of town. Come on. We’re going to be
late.”
They made
their way down the road and turned past the vacant high school. The building
held onto its loneliness for the second to last weekend before students would
return to its halls at the close of summer break. Across the street from the
school, they turned into an apartment complex with white buildings, green
roofs, and a circular arrangement. Aaron led the way into the complex and found
the unit they were seeking. They rounded the building looking for the stairwell
that would take them up to the second floor, but they ran into a tall, old man
instead. He was at least a foot taller than Dan’s six foot height and about a
foot and a half taller than Aaron. His head, though bald on top, was surrounded
in long silver hair and a thick beard. He wore a nicely pressed, navy blue
suit, and stood with his arms folded, glaring down his crooked, pointy nose at
them.
“Merlin!”
Dan cried out in alarm before bowing quite deeply and causing Aaron to turn his
attention to Dan in surprise.
“You’re late,
Daniel,” the man replied with a solid tone. His elegant British accent was unmistakable.
“I know,”
Dan quickly apologized. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t let
it happen again,” the man pressed with a tease in his voice.
Aaron, who
was most perplexed and frightened, looked up to see the man smiling at him.
“Hello,
Aaron.”
The ground
lurched as Aaron attempted to speak. A hole opened beneath him, and he began dropping
downward. In a second he was ten feet down and could see the silhouettes of Dan
and the old man looking down after him. Then with a flash of light the soil
around him became void and blackness enveloped him. He couldn’t think, and he
couldn’t cry out. The shock of the last few moments had left him voiceless. The
light now high above was quickly swallowed amid the abyssal darkness, and he
was surrounded in nothing but empty space. Then all at once he hit the ground
with a gentle thud. Everything was dark, except for the large palm leaves and
aspen branches that fluttered softly overhead. Against the black, starless sky,
the branches and leaves glowed gently as if they themselves were under the
light of the noonday sun.
His face
twisted in confusion as he flexed his fingers and felt the long grasses in
which he lay. They were soft and cool to his touch, and they tickled his skin.
He could hear water trickling not too far off on his left, joined by the quiet
lapping of water on a shore and the smell of flowers filtering through the air.
What happened? Night and day at the same time? Where am I? he
thought...
(End of Excerpt)
***Applause***
Host (to Dan): Wow! How could you do that to your best friend? What was that like for you?
Mr. Barker: I was more of an unwilling participant than anything, to be straight about it. I had no idea what was actually going to happen that day. (Fights a chuckle) But, I'll never forget the look on Aaron's face. At first it was the epitome of "What's going on here?" but as soon as he began to fall it changed to the most hilarious "OH <----->!" face.
Mr. Flanagan: Well, let's drop you in a hole with no warning and see what you look like. You could've at least warned me.
***Laughter***
Mr. Barker: The expression made the whole day for
me. And that's saying something, 'cause I really didn't like that day.
Still don't. You'll understand why in a couple days after the release. And to be honest, it was a hard thing to live through. Aaron and I had become very close friends and when I turned him over to Merlin, I had no idea what was going to happen.
Host (to Aaron): Did you forgive him?
Mr. Flanagan: (looks at Mr. Barker for a few seconds) I guess you'll have to wait and see.
Host to Audience: Well folks, it sounds like there's a lot to brace for. Don't miss the release of Mimgardr by S. R. Ford, available this weekend. (Turns to guests) Gentlemen, thanks very much for being here. I hope this becomes a big success for you.
Guests together: Thanks. Us too.
Host: Ladies and gentlemen, Dan Barker and Aaron Flanagan!
***Applause***
Host: And we'll be right back!
