THE REST IS ILLUSION

Eric Arvin
Booklocker.com, September 2006
Genre: Gay & Lesbian

A coming of age story with a supernatural bent, set on the campus of Verona College. The story centers on five students whose lives are further complicated by an unseen force that surrounds the college, changing them forever.

Excerpt From THE REST IS ILLUSION

Prologue

Suddenly, a great steel clamp seemed to twist inside of Dashel. He gasped, and his body contorted. The pain was immense. Unrelenting. He fell to his knees, using the chair to steady himself as he grabbed at his gut. He tried to raise himself, but fell with a carpeted thump back on the floor. His arm struck a large stack of papers and they tumbled down over him into an avalanche of disorganization.

On his back, the pain traveling up his entire body, he gasped again. His hands tensed and crumpled some of the papers that had fallen about. Hands drawing up in the pain his father had known. His father’s hands. And his father’s tears of torment flooded from his eyes.

He rolled over onto his stomach, trying to regain footing. Trying to get to the bed. To writhe on a softer pallet. But another sweeping spasm hit him, and out of his mouth came a stream of red. Bright red. Red, like when Wilder had hit him with the ice and snow. Red, like the blood on the dinner table after his father’s first attack. It spread out onto the white sheets of paper, soaking them. He saw the blood pool spread before his eyes.

Realizing then he would not make it to the bed, he rolled over onto his back with his arms held outstretched, his hands still inflected in ineffable anguish. He stared up at the ceiling, his eyes wide in the pain his mouth could not find the strength, nor words, to utter.

But then the room became nebulous. Frosted with a dream-like vapor. The ceiling vanished, or was lifted away, and above was a beautiful blue sky. A veil was lifted and everything else around him evolved, shifted, into a greater use. Colors more vibrant. Life more vivid.

He was flying now, and down below was a great river…

Eric Arvin Bio

Eric Arvin resides in the same sleepy Indiana river town where he grew up. He graduated from Hanover College with a Bachelors in History, and is a fan of the writing of James Purdy. He has lived, for brief periods, in Italy and Australia. He is a freelance writer, and contributor to AfterElton.com. Having survived brain surgery he now spends his time focusing on life more appropriately. The Rest is Illusion is his first published novel.

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Copyright Information

The Rest is Illusion, Eric Arvin
Booklocker.com, September 2006

The preceding excerpt was taken from the book The Rest is Illusion with complete approval by the author Eric Arvin and/or the publisher Booklocker.com. This information may not be re-used or redistributed in any manner.

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