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My wife doesn't want to hear about this part of the NEVЯLAND saga, but I tell her anyway.
I like to bounce ideas off Nadya and gauge her reaction.
When I told her about how the Children in NEVЯLAND round up the larger dogs and cats and begin breeding them for food, she said, "I don't want to hear about this."
Ah, I knew I had a good plot device. That's the reaction I wanted.
Sometimes we have to look at the horrible reality to understand the ugly Truth.
I have no problem being a full human being who eats the flesh of animals.
Perhaps that is why I wouldn't have any problem eating Rover or Fluffy if it meant surviving or starving to death.
"Why can't they just eat cows?" Nadya asked.
Well, for one thing, there's this invisible Wall that doesn't let anything get in or out of the city, which means no replenishment of food supplies.
Besides that, for four weeks now, the Children have had no contact with the outside world and some are beginning to suspect they are all on their own--that they are the last people on the face of the Earth.
If they are to survive, they will have to eat whatever they can.
The food from the stores, homes, and restaurants won't last forever.
They can grow vegetables, but that won't be enough.
Remember, there's nearly 4,000 Children left in Junebug.
They will need meat. And when the meat from the homes, restaurants, and stores run out, large dogs and cats are the natural answer.
Cruel? Really?
What would you do?
That's a sincere question--I'd really like to know.
I fully expect the vegans, the pseudo-vegetarians, and the fanatical pet lovers to use guilt-trip tactics to raise a maudlin defense for not eating the dogs and cats.
Mmmm! You see cute kittens. I see Hot Wings!
One vegan told me once, "I don't eat anything with a face on it."
I wouldn't have minded the comment except that it was said in a rather judgmental way and designed to swell up some sort of guilt feelings within me as I chomped down on my delicious pork.
"Well," I replied, "do you eat heads of lettuce, ears of corns, hearts of artichoke, baby peas, finger sandwiches, et cetera?"
He was not amused.
My point is, Humans eat other living things. Humans are built to eat both plants and vegetables. Full Humans take advantage of the Natural ability to eat both.
Funny: the Human race has not survived for hundreds of thousands of years listening to the PC crowd or avoiding the flesh of other animals.
In fact, those who raise the hue and cry about eating pets are silent on the whole human-flesh-eating-zombie craze.
Nearly lost in all this talk of eating the household pets is the birth of the first Child since the Disappearance.
We'll chew the fat on that subject in Part 02.
See you on the bookshelves,
Larry Mike
One of the questions NEVЯLAND forces us to confront is our sense of morality and ethics and what we teach our Children.
Children are clean slates upon which society writes its rules as well as a sense of right and wrong.
What we do today to our Children just doesn't echo into the future--it CREATES the future.
Children become what they see, hear, and learn at home and then at school and from their friends, and especially from the media.
From Grimms' "The Raven" through today's headlines of young racist and child suicide bombers, Children are the battleground for the next generation's sense of Right and Wrong.
Today's ongoing battles for the hearts and minds of our children are fought in our schools, our political arenas, our churches/synagogues/mosques/temples, and our homes. From sexual orientation to political correctness to fascism to conservatism to libertarianism to progressive-ism. . . .Who's Right? Who's Wrong?
Is it any wonder our Children prefer to get lost in the virtual world of Internet chat rooms and video gaming when the Adults of this world appear to simply not have a clue as to what the Hell they are doing?
Whose vision of Humanity is to prevail?
So, what happens when all the jaded lessons of the Adults are stripped away?
What will Children, unfettered by the fears, prejudices, and shortcomings of Adult angst and bias, decide is the ultimate Right and Wrong, the Rules of the Universe, the Laws of God?
In Lord of the Flies, we get a horrifying glimpse of a world ruled by Children--of savagery, of chaos, of injustice, of hopelessness.
But in the end, Adults show up to restore order.
What if the Adults were never to return, to show up and to save the day?
What if Children, despite their initial childish joy of being free from Adults, realize to their great horror that no Adult will miraculously appear in the nick-of-time and make everything all right again.
Would not a strong leader have to prevail? Would not a Tyrant have to arise to ensure that Law and Order are instituted and maintained if the Children are to survive?
Would not another Stalin, another Pol Pot, another Augustus Caesar, another Hitler, a child Louis Farrakhan emerge to ensure Order and Survival--even among children?
Do really think that Children, nurtured by the prejudices, biases, and shortcomings of their Parents, are really going to join hands, sing "Kumbaya", and everyone will just "get along"?
Do you really think that?
NEVЯLAND doesn't pretend to be easy or soft.
The truth never is.
Take care,
Larry Mike
One question I've been asked is, "Where is Junebug, Oklahoma?"
Simply, Junebug, Oklahoma, is in the southwest corner of Oklahoma on the border of Jackson and Harmon counties.
Junebug, Oklahoma's zip code is 74666.
You understand the symbolism.
Another question I've been asked is, "How did you come up with the name 'Junebug'?"
Over 20 years ago, the State of Oklahoma had a series of public service announcements about littering.
The PSAs featured a stereotypical Okie complete with beer gut, four-day stubble, cut-off country style shirt, ball cap, and soiled-ripped jeans. He drove a pickup.
And his name was Bubba.
Bubba lived in the town of Junebug, Oklahoma.
When I went to the library to search the map for the location of Junebug, I found there was no such city. (This is pre-Google days.)
So, I took the name and created my own small SW-Oklahoma town and county complete with its own unique and horrifying history.
You can read about the founding and horrific history of Junebug, Oklahoma, HERE.
I published some Junebug stories--all of them horror and macabre.
One day I received an email from an elderly woman who claimed she had lived near Junebug, Oklahoma, and wondered if it still existed or if was one of the hundreds of Oklahoma ghost towns.
Once again, I went to the library (pre-Google, remember) and did a more thorough search for Junebug.
No such town has ever existed in the State of Oklahoma, Indian Territory, or Oklahoma Territory.
This lady, though, insisted she have lived not far from Junebug, Oklahoma, and even knew people who had lived there back in the 1910s and 1920s.
No amount of persuasion on my part could convince her that I had gotten the idea from a TV PSA about littering and that I had created the town and the country from my fevered imagination.
Perhaps creating a realistic town and setting that people think they remember is actually what a writer should be doing.
I took the lady's persistence that Junebug, Oklahoma, was a real town from her childhood memory as a huge compliment!
So, when NEVЯLAND jumped into my consciousness, the setting for this horrific post-apocalyptic middle grade-young adult novel could only be one place--JUNEBUG, OKLAHOMA.
Junebug, Oklahoma, is my Yoknapatawpha County.
See you in NEVЯLAND,
Larry Mike
PS: According to the USPS Zip Code website, the prefix 74- is actually an eastern Oklahoma zip. I had chosen 73666 as the original Zip Code but that's the Zip Code for Sweetwater, Oklahoma. There is no OK town with 74666, and so, I'll just take the criticism about placing a 74- prefix Zip Code in a 73- SW-OK setting.
One question I've been asked is, "Where is Junebug, Oklahoma?"
Simply, Junebug, Oklahoma, is in the southwest corner of Oklahoma on the border of Jackson and Harmon counties.
Junebug, Oklahoma's zip code is 74666.
You understand the symbolism.
Another question I've been asked is, "How did you come up with the name 'Junebug'?"
Over 20 years ago, the State of Oklahoma had a series of public service announcements about littering.
The PSAs featured a stereotypical Okie complete with beer gut, four-day stubble, cut-off country style shirt, ball cap, and soiled-ripped jeans. He drove a pickup.
And his name was Bubba.
Bubba lived in the town of Junebug, Oklahoma.
When I went to the library to search the map for the location of Junebug, I found there was no such city. (This is pre-Google days.)
So, I took the name and created my own small SW-Oklahoma town and county complete with its own unique and horrifying history.
You can read about the founding and horrific history of Junebug, Oklahoma, HERE.
I published some Junebug stories--all of them horror and macabre.
One day I received an email from an elderly woman who claimed she had lived near Junebug, Oklahoma, and wondered if it still existed or if was one of the hundreds of Oklahoma ghost towns.
Once again, I went to the library (pre-Google, remember) and did a more thorough search for Junebug.
No such town has ever existed in the State of Oklahoma, Indian Territory, or Oklahoma Territory.
This lady, though, insisted she have lived not far from Junebug, Oklahoma, and even knew people who had lived there back in the 1910s and 1920s.
No amount of persuasion on my part could convince her that I had gotten the idea from a TV PSA about littering and that I had created the town and the country from my fevered imagination.
Perhaps creating a realistic town and setting that people think they remember is actually what a writer should be doing.
I took the lady's persistence that Junebug, Oklahoma, was a real town from her childhood memory as a huge compliment!
So, when NEVЯLAND jumped into my consciousness, the setting for this horrific post-apocalyptic middle grade-young adult novel could only be one place--JUNEBUG, OKLAHOMA.
Junebug, Oklahoma, is my Yoknapatawpha County.
See you in NEVЯLAND,
Larry Mike
PS: According to the USPS Zip Code website, the prefix 74- is actually an eastern Oklahoma zip. I had chosen 73666 as the original Zip Code but that's the Zip Code for Sweetwater, Oklahoma. There is no OK town with 74666, and so, I'll just take the criticism about placing a 74- prefix Zip Code in a 73- SW-OK setting.
