Cover Reveal - Flights of Fiction

Okay, I'm excited. 

Next Monday is the release day for FLIGHTS OF FICTION, published by Handcar Press.  

Why am I excited? Because one of the eleven stories in this anthology is "Motive" by LD Masterson.

It's my first real honest-to-gosh publication.

Here's the cover.

I'm saving the details for next Monday's post but I had to show off the cover.

Can I get a woo woo?

Mind Boggler for Today: Since this was a short post, I offer this...

At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, (AAFS) President Dr. Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death.

Here is the story:

On March 23, 1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head.

Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a 10-story building intending to commit suicide. 

He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency.  

As he fell past the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly.   

Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

The room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife.  

They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun!    

The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger, he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window, striking Mr. Opus.    

When one intends to kill subject 'A' but kills subject 'B' in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject 'B.'     

When confronted with the murder charge, the old man and his wife were both adamant that they thought the shotgun was not loaded.       

The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her.      

Therefore, the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, assuming the gun had been accidentally loaded.    

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about 6 weeks prior to the fatal accident.     

It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.     

Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger.    

The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.    

Now for the exquisite twist...     

Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus.  

He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder.   

This led him to jump off the 10 story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window.    

The son, Ronald Opus, had actually murdered himself.     

So the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

(I said it was mind boggling.)

Unanswered Questions

I normally try to keep my posts lighthearted but I hope you'll forgive me if I'm in a darker place today.

I had planned to do a post on the end of the school year and the happy memories it brings.  Two of my grandchildren finished their year yesterday, the other two have a couple weeks left.  A very exciting time for kids, full of plans for the summer.

Expect for Paul, a thirteen year old eighth grader at my grandson's school, who came home on Tuesday, took a gun and ended his life.

 I don't have all the facts surrounding Paul's death.  I don't know if anyone does.  My grandson tells me the stories going around school all say that Paul was being bullied.  Police and school officials say that is not the case.  The media seemed disinclined to get involved until a group of parents - who may or may not have any real facts - staged an anti-bullying protest in front of the school today.  Even then, only one local TV channel reported the event. 

A number of student-generated Facebook pages have sprung up, mourning Paul and denouncing bullies and bullying. There was also a site asking all students to wear a white shirt on the last day of school to protest bullying and in memory of Paul, which my grandson says many did.  Of course, the comments on these sites now include statements from other students saying they have been bullied and at least one parent talking about her child being bullied.

The school is talking about their no-bullying policy.  Teachers receive special training in that area and the students attend anti-bullying programs.  Victims are encouraged to come forward, bullies are punished.  Or are they? How do you measure the effectiveness of an anti-bullying policy?   

As far as I know, Paul's parents have not spoken publicly on the subject. 

My heart breaks for Paul's family and for the loss of this young life, but my mind is looking for answers.  Was Paul bullied into taking his own life?  Did the school system that was supposed to keep him safe fail him?  Or are the accusations of bullying the kneejerk reaction of people who simply need someone to blame?

Why should I be so troubled by this?  Well, because a young man is dead. And because we're talking about my grandson's school. And because next year, he will be in the eighth grade.


A groaner seems inappropriate today so I'm just going to ask you to say a prayer for Paul's family.  And perhaps you could also pray that children of all ages will someday learn to treat each other with acceptance and love. 

Thanks.