A. L. Kaplan

Tag: freedom

  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of peace.

    A man of integrity.

    In light of recent events, its even more important to remember Dr. King’s contribution to our country.

    “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

    “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”

    “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”

  • Happy Juneteenth!

    Happy Juneteenth!

    Happy Juneteenth, Y’All!

    Go out and celebrate freedom.

  • Declaration of Independence: What it Truly Means

  • HUMMINGBIRD — Reading — Free Online

    Want to hear the beginning of HUMMINGBIRD: A Star Touch Story?

    You can find it and many other events at the

    Write Women’s Book Fest.

    Here is the direct line to the HUMMINGBIRD reading.

    Purchase a copy of HUMMINGBIRD: A Star Touched Story here.

    STAR TOUCHED

    STAR TOUCHED

    Sometimes it’s hard to be who you are meant to be.

    Especially when your powers can get you killed.

    Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.

    Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble.

    Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.

    WOLF DAWN

    WOLF DAWN

    A Hidden Past – A Deadly Secret

    Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers.

    But the warm welcome she receives in the human village hides more danger than life with the pack.

  • FLOWERS

    Tears stained her face as she slipped from the car. A loud snore made her jump and cringe. Last night’s beating marred her face. He never let her stop here, the one place that made her happy. If he woke….She didn’t breathe until she was sure he still slept.

    Bright yellow flowers stretched as far as she could see. They called to her, singing, swaying in the sun; a peaceful contrast to her turbulent life. She pushed through thick stems to take a picture.

    Flower heads pressed against her. Their bright yellow faces bent and swiveled like no plant should. Sweet perfume filled her nostrils. Fear and pain vanished. Sunshine kissed her lips. When she opened her eyes thousands of yellow faces beamed at her as she hovered above the field. She smiled back. What a beautiful place to rest. No pain. No tension. Far from his reach.

    A patrol spotted her car later that day with her husband still passed out in his seat. Searchers followed a wide trail to the center of the field where they found her battered body under a blanket of flowers. Amongst the bruises a peaceful smile graced her face.

    Denials were useless. The officers were as moved by her husband’s tears as he had been to hers. Those same fists that had hit her so brutally shook when they cuffed him. They hauled him away, far from the beauty he denied her. Forever locked in shadows while she soared free.

  • Freedom’s Globe

    Ramone shivered, his head pressed against the glass. Every limb felt numb, as if they belonged to someone else. Candlelight flickered in the distance, illuminating familiar stone walls. He knew this place, had been there often. How many times had he snuck into this chamber as a young student to shake the globe? Had there been another poor fool trapped inside when he had done that?

    An old man toddled into view and leaned toward the glass until his eye filled Ramone’s vision. The chastising gaze made his heart fill with shame. He should never have tried to make a portal without supervision. He should never have taken yet another dare, all for the sake of adventure.

     “Ramone?” said the wizard, “Good heavens, boy, we thought you long dead. So glad you survived.”

    Ramone’s glass prison echoed with the booming voice, then the air began to shimmer. A moment later he found himself sprawled at the old man’s feet. Afraid to look his master in the eyes, he gazed back at the fist-sized glass globe on the pedestal. The snow crystal, or globe of shame as it was more commonly called, seemed to laugh, the freezing blizzard still swirling within.

    “I trust your little adventure has prepared you for serious study, Ramone. The wizard towers are no place for slackers or dare seekers. The balance of the universe is in our keeping.”

    Ramone nodded, thankful to be alive and looking forward to a simple, uneventful life.

    For now….

  • Freedom’s Landing

    Still propelled from his cliff leap, Ramone smacked face down onto a snowdrift only to look up into a maelstrom of flakes. Nothing but swirling white met his eyes. The sweat on his body froze into an icy sheen that fell in crackling shards as he moved. Ramone’s belly twisted. At least in that dreadful island prison he hadn’t frozen. Fifteen years, wasted, imprisoned for opening a portal into the wrong world. All he wanted was to go home.

    Beneath him the ground lurched, tossing Ramone into the air before dumping him back into the snow. Earthquakes and freezing cold. What hellish world had he landed in this time? He brushed away as many flakes as he could and trudged forward. There were no more spell components, but he’d come too far to give up now. Eyes down and half closed against the biting wind, he continued moving. It was all he could do. All he had left was hope.

    Something hard smacked his forehead, nearly knocking him over. Ramone looked up, his brow wrinkled in confusion. Behind him the storm raged, but in front, a bright open space. There was no rock, no wall, only an invisible barrier. He pushed against the smooth surface, moving along its length while his heart galloped. Step by step he broke trail through the snow drifts, stopping only when he reached a set of prints identical to his own. Tears streamed down his face, freezing as they fell. A rat, caught in a crystal cage.

  • Freedom Jump

    “Quae me domum ad locum regione viarum.”

    Ramone spoke the words of the spell as he ran, praying that the improvised components he had collected would work. Powdered rat liver just wasn’t the same as that from a hippogriff. Same went for the cockroach legs he had substituted for locust. But it was all he had.

    Vines tangled his feet, sending him crashing into the hard packed dirt and rock. He muttered curses as the spell slipped from his grasp. Ignoring the lancing pain in his knees, he scrambled to his feet and continued to run. Only once had he seen the outside of the island prison, fifteen years ago when they had shipped him here, but he had heard plenty of stories through the years about the snake infested jungle and deadly cliff that sandwiched the place.

    That same cliff loomed ahead. The other inmates called it the leap to freedom. Ramone had no more desire to die than he wished to rot in a dark stone cell. He wanted true freedom. It had taken years to dig a tunnel under the walls. Now his only hope lay in a handful of junk and a half remembered spell. Behind him the hounds closed in, close enough to hear their panting.

    Grasping the last of the components, Ramone repeated the spell.  This was his last chance.

    “Quae me domum ad locum regione viarum.”

    He leaped from the cliff’s edge just as the portal opened and disappeared into the void.

  • Greener Pastures

    Swallows flitted across the meadow on the far side of the fence. Henrietta leaned her head on the barrier and watched them soar. It was so much greener over there. Of course everything else looks greener when you’re stuck in prison. Gertrude and Mildred didn’t care. They were too dumb to notice, but Henrietta noticed. Ever since the night those strange creatures flew down from the stars and poked at her, Henrietta had begun to look at her life in ways she never even considered. It was as if a door had opened in her mind.

    Most of the other cows thought only of chewing their cud, content to be herded to the machine that stole milk meant for their children. They didn’t even realize they were in a prison camp. All the other cows saw was limitless food. No matter that their children were taken away. Even Henrietta had forgotten about her calf until the strangers helped remind her.

    And when the cows stop producing milk, what then? There was no happy retirement for their lifetime of slave labor. Dried up cows got trucked away, never to be seen again.

    Well, Henrietta wasn’t going to wait to be taken to the slaughterhouse. She was going to escape and fly free like the swallows, maybe even find her calf. The plan was ready. Her rabbit friends had loosened the fence post. All she needed to do now was convince the bear to yank it down. Shouldn’t be hard at all.