On its surface, this speculative fiction short story (7,800 words) deals with one man's obsessive quest for knowledge and the devastating price he must pay for the knowledge he ultimately attains. It is also about the pain of unrequited love, the selfless sacrifice made in the name of friendship no matter the personal cost, and the tragedy that can result when one pursues lesser important things with mindless tenacity. Nothing else I have ever written since those happy, productive days as a college sophomore means more to me, and it remains little changed from the original. I've gone on to a productive, fulfilling life as an academic in the intervening four decades since writing this short story, but my combined output of "serious" publications (textbooks, scholarly books, articles in peer-reviewed journals, etc.) contains no greater truth than that which I knew as a young old man of 19 for whom the world still contained endless possibilities.
You can download a free copy of the short story until December 24, 2017 by clicking on the cover above or by clicking here. If speculative fiction is not your cup of tea, please share this with friends who might find it of interest. For more information about my published works, you can click on the links below. Thank you!
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