By Jon Hartling
Kindle Edition Available
Product Description (from Amazon)
Ben thinks his son’s talk of the magical kingdom of Lukana is just typical childhood imagination. But one winter day, when seven year-old Eric sculpts a snow owl in his backyard, he seems to set in motion events that cannot be anything but magical. Now Ben faces the terrifying prospect of losing his only child to a wintry spirit… a spirit that just might be the boy’s true father.
11 pages
Jon Hartling had been writing aimlessly for many years before the stars aligned and he discovered his muse in the classic stories of H.P. Lovecraft. With the invaluable help of his wife Heather in an editorial and technical capacity, he began writing short stories of weird fiction. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and children and dreams of one day owning a plush Cthulhu doll that's wearing a Green Bay Packers jersey and helmet. His demented cat Nikki may or may not be head-butting him at this very moment.
This is a SHORT short story ... only 11 pages. This is the second book that I have read written by Jon, I had read Firebug several months ago and didn’t care for it.
But this story captures the imagination and the heart. I think it is the love that the father has for this child only because he loved the boys mother so much. The boy looks nothing like his father, or his mother. Although he LOVES the winter. He also tells tales about a land where he is a missing Prince. One day he created a snow owl, instead of a snow man. He tells his father that the snow owl is going to take him home – back to the magic land where he belongs.
The anguish the father feels as the story progresses through to the climatic ending is breathtaking. It’s a great quick read. And I enjoyed it very much.
This author also wrote Firebug.
Genre/Theme: Short Story, Fantasy, Family Issues
Reading Level: TEEN - upper elementary to middle school Profanity: NONE - no offensive language
Sexuality: SUBTLE - hinted, but not explicit (doubt as to who fathered the child)
Other: Mother dies during childbirth (heart attack) – doubt as to whether she had the baby by another man.
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