A Certain Kind of Freedom

An express-post card from the Maltese Islands informs a Prince Edward Island mother, Catherine, that her twenty-one year old son Ryan has suddenly died. Her introverted partner, Charlie, finds Catherine on the floor in their kitchen, curled up into herself as her mind recoils against the terrible news. In her agony, Catherine compares Ryan to the World War II Spitfire pilots of Malta. He died on an island that is no stranger to losing young men in the prime of their lives. Ryan had always been an adventurer. Not one to enjoy the parameters of formal schooling, he had sought a free life, away from the tied-down existence most people in today’s society are living. When his girlfriend, Kate - whose windblown Island hair represented the freedom he sought - lost her second parent, Ryan had planned an adventure trip to Europe to help her escape for a while. It was there, in the waters of the peaceful agrarian Maltese Island of Gozo, that a sudden storm during a kayaking day trip whipped up fierce waves. In saving a swamped Kate, Ryan’s earthbound life was stolen by a haggard undersea rock.

Realizing he is dead, Ryan at first thinks he’s won the ultimate freedom. He discovers that, with a thought, he can ‘think’ himself anywhere at anytime. He feels that he will eventually evolve to another existence so, for a time, he laps up his new lack of earthbound bonds. He checks in on his mother and Kate, and then his old Celtic Pipe Band buddies, as they raise beers to his memory, and play a beloved Drummers’ Fanfare in the missing man formation at his memorial service, which practically rocks the roof off of Summerside’s old Catholic Church. Read More of this Synopsis... (.doc)

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This novel was a finalist in the 2011 Atlantic Writing Awards' and is currently seeking a publisher.