“Brother Love – a Crossroad” is a mysterious “Twilight Zone-ish” short novella. It was inspired by the combination of Neil Diamond’s song and the blues legends of Robert Johnson and the Devil at the Crossroads. As in the real world, things in this tale are not what they seem. The setting is rural Mississippi in the 1950s. A group of outcasts are in a small southern town. They don’t realize they are looking for something. Will they find it?
My review
I am a big fan of Teagan Geneviene’s books as I find her stories to be highly entertaining and imaginative and, despite containing elements of the mystical and supernatural, to be believable and seem quite possible. I also find the author’s characters to be interesting and colourful and I enjoy the way she uses their actions, emotions and dialogues to weave her stories in a natural…
The little shadow boy cocked his head and thought.
“Her name is Felicity.”
“That sounds right.” Trina replied; then she stuffed Felicity
into her bag and said, “Let’s go!”
Trina and the Shadow Boy find the Android
The Shadow boy led Trina to the robot department at Macy’s.
The android saw them and clicked happily into gear.
The three of them stared at each other in silence.
Finally, Trina opened her bag and said, “Hop in and I’ll make you a skin.”
The android peered at Trina’s bag and hopped in.
Trina hugged the shadow boy and told him to close his eyes; when he opened them, he was in Trina’s workshop.
The shadow boy watched from the shadows as Trina went to work at her sewing machine. It took hours, but when she was done, the android had a new skin and new clothes.
Trina Takes the Android to Her Workshop
As Trina dressed the android, the shadow boy stepped out of the shadows.
“He’s very handsome.” The shadow boy said, “but why are his clothes so weird.”
“He lives in the past.” Trina replied.
Trina brought the android a mirror; the android silently studied his face.
“Not bad” he said. His voice was deep and resonant.
“I think it’s quite excellent.” Trina’s statement was an irritable command.
The android clicked with dismay, “Oh yes!” He stammered, “It’s quite excellent;quite excellent indeed.”
Trina Makes the Android a New Skin and Outfit
Trina was happy again.
“Let’s go to the park and write a story.” She said.
“That’s an excellent idea,” the android relied, “quite excellent indeed.”
The beach parking lot was jammed with cars. Outside their blue rental, Samantha stretched her stiff limbs while Jeff rummaged in the back seat for snacks and towels. A tow truck clanked its chains and ground its gears in the midst of hauling away one of several abandoned vehicles, the windshields dusted with a week’s worth of windblown sand.
According to the glossy pamphlet, the rocky headlands and clustered islands sheltered turquoise waves, and the soft sand welcomed blankets and picnics. All inviting. But after days of battling crowds of tourists, the feature that most appealed to Sam was the promised solitude. Unfortunately, Tranquil Cove didn’t look like it would live up to its reputation.
She sighed and read the sign pounded into the sand at the lot’s edge. Someone had hand-scrawled a sloppy “g” on the otherwise formal warning. “Beware of the grocks. No…
Trina pulled a bench out of her bag and sat by the duck pond in Central Park.
She rested her chin on her hands and watched a little yellow duckling scurry
after its mother.
I want a new dolly, thought Trina, but I want one like me.
“What does that look like?” asked Trina’s doll, Madison.
Trina pulled Madison out of her bag.
“She’s just like me, but taller, and with breasts, because she’s a grown up.”
“Why is she a grown up?”
So she can do grownup things.”
“Like what?”
Trina gazed at the duck pond and thought.
Madison giggled, “Tits don’t make a gown-up!”
Trina was shocked.
Madison snickered and grinned.
Anjana the elephant slowly lumbered out of the pond.
He lifted his mighty trunk and gently plucked the little yellow duckling from his back and released it find its Mother.
‘My friends,” he bowed.
Madison swiveled her head and frowned at Anjana: “Trina thinks she’s all grown up if she has…”
Trina grabbed the doll and stuffed it into her bag. “Breasts,” she said sweetly.
Arjuna nodded thoughtfully and flapped his ears. “I’m no hominid, but I think it takes more than breasts to be a grown-up human. Why do you want to be a grown up when you’re such a perfect little girl?”
Trina pulled out her tea set and a freshly baked plate of scones; she poured out tea and replied. “I want my new dolly to be a grown-up.”
“Why?”
“Because my world needs grown-ups.”
“We elephants are very grown up.”
“Really?” said Trina. “What kind of grown up things do you do?”
