Frederick Marshall Brown - Ravaging Myths.pdf - Frederick Marshall Brown - widez2

Ravaging Myths

Frederick Marshall Brown

Published: 2009

Tag(s): SciFi "science fiction" Fantasy Horror Mystery Series Novel

RAVAGING MYTHS

Frederick Marshall Brown

Published by P450Guide.com

ISBN 0-97000-843-0

PROLOGUE

Man first occupied the Americas over a hundred thousand years ago

and has survived events that led to the extinction of many other

creatures on the continents. Destined to wander, he traveled in pursuit

of food from other continents around the globe and ended up in the

Americas like everywhere else mostly by chance. Over the millennia

the influx of people migrated from the outer reaches of the Americas to

the interior, slowly populating both continents. The people who even-

tually crossed the ice age Beringia land bridge were only some of the

more recent arrivals in prehistory. Assessing this from the present,

each successive wave of people could be viewed as either immigrants

or invaders on their arrival in the Americas, and we may never know

what their impact was on the inhabitants already present. We do

know that many complex and unique cultures developed, flourished,

and then disappeared over the course of time leaving mere remnants

of their prior existence.

By the time the Europeans crossed the Atlantic and landed in the

Americas, millions of native people with thousands of distinct cultures

already occupied the two American continents. Unfortunately, the

European arrivals had an absolute disregard for the people already

present. Even though they were immediately struggling, the new ar-

rivals were determined to claim what they called the ‘new’ and

‘uninhabited’ land for their already existing imperialistic countries

across the ocean.

The Europeans were nothing more than invaders

clearly set from the start on taking the Natives’ land by any necessary

means even to the extent of outright genocide.

Sadly, this is what happened in our own recorded history. But the

Americas did not have to evolve in that way. Changes at innumerable

points in our history could have led to a tremendously altered world.

The world of Ravaging Myths traveled a different path. The native

population was not decimated by European disease.

The millions of

16 th

natives

would

have

fared

very

differently

against

century

invaders.

CHAPTER 1

I arrived.

The smell of hot dogs and stale popcorn filled the otherwise dry,

clean air. Only I could smell them, and I hated hot dogs and popcorn.

It was starting over again, and all I could think was ‘we make our

own hell…we make our own hell…’

It had once been simple.

Wakeup.

Eat.

Go to work.

Work.

Eat.

Work.

Go home.

Eat.

Go to bed.

The pattern fell apart during ‘go to work’ number whatever, a partic-

ularly regrettable weekend day on which I had been covering my

friend’s patients for him while he was on vacation out of the Shawnee

Nation. Cross coverage is a standard practice among physicians, and

you do it for others if you ever have hopes of taking vacation yourself.

That, or pay through the nose for a locums doctor and have complaints

from your patients for months afterwards because let’s face it, a temp

is a temp. Patients would generally rather have their own doctor, but

in their doctor’s absence, they preferred a handpicked local colleague

over a temp any day. It’s reasonable. Opening up the details of your

bladder, bowel habits and everything else medical is rough on a per-

son. Throw in some diarrhea and a little STD or some sexual dysfunc-

tion and, well you get the picture. Having to cross that ‘Hello, this is

me and this is my disgusting and embarrassing problem’ bridge once

in a lifetime with a stranger is already one too many. That aside, I was

filling in for my friend and had to take a quick ride to Marion to do

hospital rounds on the few patients he had there. This entailed a short

drive north up the congested Internation freeway, and then another

short hop to the hospital.

We have to insert “CRASH” at this point.

Actually, not just “CRASH”, but “CRASH WITH LIFE-

THREATENING, COMA-INDUCING, PLATE IN MY SKULL HEAD

INJURY”.

Everything changed….

It started like this…the smell of hotdogs and stale popcorn…

The accident had been horrific. Thirty-two dead, a hundred and sev-

enteen injured. Fog had been to blame, or at least fog, and a long con-

voy of eighteen-wheelers. It had been early A.M., and a high-speed

traffic stream had been headed up the freeway towards Chicago.

Crazy fog lulled us all into a driving stupor. Then, one mistake led to

another, and..well, I think the picture has been made pretty clear..

I was one of the lucky ones, not dead, but not really all that alive

either. You see, I was in a coma. Peacefulness and bliss under the in-

fluence of morphine poured into my veins to sooth my horrifically

broken body. Outward appearances could be deceiving, but not in my

case. That was as good as it would get for me after that wreck. Or, at

least, that was as peaceful as it was going to be for me from then on.

Of course, I didn’t know this at the time because I was in a coma. Like

I said, peacefulness…bliss…

Life sucks, and then you die, but only if you’re lucky.

For me, the smell of hotdogs and stale popcorn filled the air.

Frederick Marshall Brown - Ravaging Myths.pdf

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