Musings from a Candlelit Chamber

As the story for my next book, A World of Ash, continues to take shape I thought I’d share the prologue from the book. As with all things of a creative nature this is a work in progress and nothing is set in stone until the day of publication. Just thought it would be fun to throw it out there and see what y’all thought.

The following is © 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro/Deep Forest Productions

With the 2028 Presidential election, the Constitution Party had risen to full power in the United States. Borne of the Tea Party from the turn of the century its members felt the Tea Party had become corrupted by liberalist ideals and too leftist in its policies; a few of the right-most fringe broke free after losing a Presidential bid in 2016, burdened by constant bickering between its more prolific candidates.

At the core of Constitutionalist belief was that the original document, free of amendments, was what the founding fathers had always intended and sought to repeal these “perversions” to the U.S. Constitution. Once the party gained control of both houses of Congress in 2024, they quickly and quietly pushed through the ironically-named Freedom Act of 2025, effectively striping the U.S. Constitution of all amendments, including the Bill of Rights.

With the election of Glenn Beck in 2028, the Immigration Reform Act of 2030 saw the nation’s borders closed and the military removal of all individuals who were not Naturalized citizens as of July 4, 2030. Immigration, work visas, and even visitation to the United States was now illegal. Glorified and pushed through as an anti-terrorism policy, it was greeted with cheers from the unwitting public.

The Information Approval Act followed in 2031. With this law, the final nail was driven into the coffin of free speech.

The IAA outlawed public comment on the internet and media. It closed all public libraries (a measure that was hidden behind a guise of budget cuts to deal with another massive recession when the oil industry imploded in 2019). Under the law all text books, all fiction, all TV and movie scripts, had to pass through a Congressional committee before going to print. Newscasts were now controlled by each State in which they were broadcast.

Thus was the world that Quentin grew up in during the 2050′s.

He’d heard of Reading Parties. These were secret meetings in random, constantly-changing locations where people read aloud from whatever writings they could get their hands on.

The printed word was outlawed in the 40′s as a means of protecting the last sparse forest areas in the country. All media was now in digital form only; but this also made it far easier to conceal “subversive” material. Entire collections could be put on microscopic discs and taken to these Reading Parties.

The blood from the shoulder wound trickled down Quentin’s trembling hand. With a slow motion the stranger pulled a disc from his jacket and it fell from his lifeless hand to the roadside. As others began running to the scene, Quentin quickly tossed it into his pocket. A quiet summer walk was about to become a run for his life, and would change the world in ways his 15 years of life experience was unable to comprehend.