Franklin's Fall

FRANKLIN’S FALL Frank was running. He leapt on his motorcycle and pressed the starter. The cylinders spun, but no fire. They were gaining on him. They were always after him. He would be cut, smashed, crushed, and crucified. There would be blood. He had tried to hide, to banter, plead, grovel, and even beg. Nothing worked. Like wolves, they could always smell his fear. Now they were after him, closing in, gaping fangs outstretched to rip him limb from limb. He frantically pushed the starter and, at last, the engine sprang to life. He loaded a gear and roared away from them. The bike was freedom, a thundering steed, putting distance between him and his tormentors. The DOHC, 636 cc, four-stroke beast propelled him skyward. Now he was free. Speed was his liberation. And then everything stopped as the bike waivered, spinning in the air. Down he fell, down and ever downward until he hit the pavement. The teeth of the concrete road leapt up to devour his flesh as he slid forward, rolling, tumbling, his torn body leaving a long line of flesh and blood trailing behind him.

Franklin’s FalL CHAPTER ONE THE ROBBERY Frank Franklin fell out of bed. He slept as far to his side as possible. With Allyson, there was no more warmth in their resting place. “That’s a new one,” Allyson spoke from the bathroom mirror. Frank pulled himself into a sitting position on the carpet and threw the pillow back on the bed. “A new what?” “You fell out of bed, Franklin. That’s a new stupid for you.” “I was having a nightmare.” Frank could smell her pungent perfume that floated from the bathroom. It made him gag. He stood up and caught a view of Allyson in her underwear standing at the sink mirror. For a middle-aged woman, she still had the semblance of a waist. Her buttocks perched generously outward and upward, just like her tits. She saw him watching her in the mirror. He quickly turned away just as she slammed the bathroom door shut. The alarm went off on his nightstand. He reached for the shut-off button. He grabbed his crotch under his pajama pants. It was over. He knew it was over, moons ago. Little Heather had drowned in the swimming pool at summer camp in New Hampshire. His wife was in Chicago with Ester, her mother, visiting her high-class family at the time. He was working at the accounting firm when the camp phoned him of the tragedy. But it was always his fault. The child died on his watch. All that was left was a lie…for the family to stay together, maintain a semblance of normalcy, long enough for the courts to award the wrongful-death settlement. It was made crystal clear. After that, Allyson was dumping him. She would take Cynthia and Benjamin with her. And that was the killer. Allyson had shown no mercy in driving a wedge of distrust and hate between him and the two remaining children. Hating him seemed a convenient option, to curb her grief, and her guilt. Heather was the youngest. Just eight when she died. Cindy was twelve, and Ben thirteen when it happened. They were transformed by the death of their little sister. In just six months since the accident, he had watched the hardness grow in their stares. To hear it from his wife and her mother, it was as though he had drowned the kid himself. Frank had entertained early visions of his being head of the family. They proved delusional. Mr. Chasewell, Allyson’s domineering father, was always against the marriage. To hear him tell it, his daughter had married beneath her station. Frank’s family had its bright spots. Uncle Glen was a judge. But after their third child, something broke. Allyson wanted more. More than he could offer. The tragic death of Heather condemned him in the eyes of her elitist family. First chance his totally bitched-out wife and her monster mom had, they would throw him under the bus. So it made him nuts. He knew it.

BIO: L. A. Gordon “There are places a writer can take you, where you, alone, cannot go. Once you have journeyed there, you are free to experience the beauty and darkness of your newly discovered destination. Having read the book, however, you are faced with the realization that there is no way back. Knowledge is like that.” - L. A. Gordon ~ Dr. Lansing Alexander Gordon, DBA is a career Marketer, National Fundraiser, and a University Professor in both the US and Asia. He has raised millions of dollars for health care facilities in the US. He has been a Producer for NBC, a racetrack horse groom, and a bartender, not necessarily in that order. He was a featured speaker at the prestigious Jonathan Club in Burbank, CA, and received the American Legion Award for Oratory. As a university professor, he authored a textbook entitled 'Cybercentrism, and the New Cybergens', getting much of his futuristic, IT business concepts from his work as a Research Analyst for a national research firm in Silicon Valley. Dr. Gordon's fictional work is for general audiences, is nonpolitical, and contains no abusive language. Gordon served as an emergency room medical technician (EMT) in city hospitals for four full years before entering college. Gordon’s writing style is adventurous, fast moving, and humorous-noir. His stories, like the cover art he paints for his books, enliven the debate as to where the edges of reality and sanity should be set. The books contain historical, even gothic notes, and are often technologically edgy. Six eBooks average 60 to 150 pages each, and are entitled ‘Franklin’s Fall’, ‘McCory’s Chase’, ‘The Holcyons’, ‘RIP Runners’, and ‘Temporary Tales’. The sixth is three-part saga entitled ‘Forever’s Gate’. The first episode, of 150 pages, is offered ‘free’ to all readers. What makes Gordon’s eBooks unique is that each edition is accompanied by a ‘free’, downloadable theme song, which can be found at the www.spindreamer.com website. The website is loaded with Spindreamer Music, some captured in video productions. You can discover singing talents on the Spindreamer label, browse behind the stage scenes to catch dancers preparing for a music production, learn about new eBook launches, and steal looks into a recording studio run by producer and performing artist Chrys Berri. Mr. Berri has composed the musical themes that accompany each eBook. Visit www.spindreamer.com for more on our literary/musical family. You can always contact us at spindreamerbooks.music@gmail.com.