Small Fry Speed Land of Lincoln

Now and then comes a story that makes one sit back and ask, Do I fully understand what I just read?

While just a short, at least to me, seven chapters, the nuances in this tale will leave you reconsidering your perspectives.

Simply well written, engaging, and for me...a must read!!!

As with all stories penned by @empath, authentically written characters placed in believable situations are the key to its appeal and success.

On this occasion, the story examines the ugliness, the brutality and the wanton destruction of humans by religious zealotry. The dogma of their fathers and the passivity of their mothers, a recipe for self-hatred on the part of two men, one emerging from years of unhappiness and doubt into young adulthood, the other entering the darkest moment of his young life after several years of self-recrimination and torment. 

Into this bleak and desolate landscape arrives a beacon of hope, a stray dog named Small Fry Speed, Thomas Cicero in canine form. Small Fry Speed, one of, if not the greatest of, all @empath's heroic creations.

A must read, provocative, challenging and for some nourishing and an affirmation of self worth.

A very moving story about extremely focused faith and how an abused son found relief through the compassion of neighbors and an unlikely canine rescuer. Well written.

If God created the Earth in seven days, one day was enough for the characters in this story to face their deepest fears as parents, experience revelation, and understand that love for God and love for a child is never in conflict, but flow from the same divine source.

In this new installment of the Land of Lincoln series, @empath once again delivers an emotional masterpiece. We meet familiar faces - Marcus and Joshua, on the day of Marcus’s graduation. As they wait for Marcus’s estranged parents to arrive for a family dinner, a powerful drama unfolds next door.

Elisha, weighed down by religious dogma and personal demons, struggles with self-acceptance. Yet through pain and doubt, and with the help of an unexpected companion - a stray dog, loyal and noble, this story takes a path toward healing, hope, and redemption.

Deeply emotional and beautifully written, this tale touches the heart and moves the reader to tears, something we’ve come to expect from @empath's stories. Another little gem in the author’s collection - powerful, sincere, and unforgettable.

Religion is used too often to promote specific points of view as though those specific views are absolute truth, finite understanding versus infinite being.  This short, but intense, story of a young man's struggle with self-knowledge versus a religious view presented as absolute and opposite of what he is experiencing.  He comes to the conclusion that his only way to satisfy the deity he has been taught to believe in is to end his life.  Through the intervention of two neighbors, but more importantly, a stray dog, he and his family are faced with a wider point of view.  This journey in seven relatively short chapters takes the reader through a process of questioning and deepening of understanding of the human condition and religious conviction.

Small Fry Speed is a stunning work of written art that examines the often-tragic effects of fanatical religious beliefs.  Chapter 5 hit hard, with an intensity that left this reader gasping at the rawness of the emotions. Will those sitting in the self-imposed darkness of distorted beliefs see the light in time?

Oh, what a difference a day makes! This intense story takes place over one day.A day in which people start to change because of a boy and his dog.

The story shows us, in stark reality, the trauma and corrosive effects of ingrained beliefs. But all is not gloom as trauma initiates change and the potential for understanding and family bonding.  

A compelling story, not only worth reading, but also re-reading.

Thank you @empath.