The Solace of Solitude

A novel by Steve ShireSteve Davis

Photo taken in Georgia but don’t tell anyone

Sam sought isolation to finish his trilogy in the winter of 1983 and 1984, also seeking solitude as a cure for his soul. The Pettigrew Place was the perfect house to live with his mythical beasts and their transdimensional portals. The small town of Stumpy Point didn’t offer much humanity to avoid, a good location for being a hermit.

Great view from deck, beach walks, placid, idyllic, mundane, and boring was Sam’s description on the card he sent to his New York friends the Ellisons.

The Pettigrew family of Lana, Denny, and daughter Ursula were the owners and caretakers of the rental they called the Big House. Sam appreciated their diligence in preserving his privacy at the backwater rental.

Possibly it took a weirdo, in a good way, to open real life portals. His presence like a seasonal storm exposed what had been sealed away. The family’s old ghosts hid more mystery than his novels.

People try smuggling history out of memory, smuggling history right past history. Whether the history of a family or a nation, alternative facts and a comfortable narrative are no protection when the curse of reality is revealed. All the bending, smuggling, and pretense are scattered debris. Sam learns smuggling history out of history is common practice, making 1984 in Stumpy Point rather Orwellian.

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