Portal

by George R. Mead

Once upon a time, as the beginning of tales often go, there was a man who was neither very old nor very young. He was, as he so considered himself, a ten year old thirty-four year old male growing into adulthood. This person, John Tinker by name, as he was known to the Post Office, Tinker as he was known by his friends, lived and worked not far from the rather small, isolated town of Grandeville, Oregon, in the late 20th Century U.S.A. He certainly wasn't prepared to live life in what he thought was a fairy tale. But that is what happened. Much to his surprise and consternation. And so, there he was, being dragged from place to place, headed for some end point, he hoped, that would eventually allow him to return to his rather quiet and ordered life. And in the process he slowly grew used to this new existence and his new companions: Sorrowful Mistidings, a Teller of Tales from The Six Lands; Mountain-That-Walks, a reader of rock and stone from that cursed word place named Stumpf; and, Smoke of the Velvetmist, a gigantic telepathic carnivore, who will have a greater influence on Tinker's life that he would ever realize or ever imagine.

232 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003