With us today is Kai Strand talking about: Good vs Bad. Not Always A Clear Choice
I’m going to ask you to do some imagining with me. Picturing
scenarios in your head for the purposes of illustrating a point.
Imagine if you will, an epic traffic pile up on a freeway.
An oil tanker has tipped on its side and is spewing its contents. The river of
gasoline is headed straight for the pile of cars that are already aflame. The
truck’s driver hit his head and is out cold, slumped over the steering wheel.
(The cab is still upright, while the tank is on its side. We must keep this
simple-ish). How do you react?
GOOD person: Rushes forward, throws open the truck’s door,
climbs in, unbuckles the unconscious person and drags him clear just as the
trail of gasoline ignites and a line of flame zips backward to blow the tanker
sky high.
BAD person: Rushes for truck, throws open door, climbs in,
rifles through driver’s pockets for wallet. Repeats process with any other
unconscious driver in the pile up not already engulfed in flames. Walks away
from incident with $140.00.
Now, imagine with me a crowd of revelers pouring out of a
sports arena after their team won its first championship in 100 years. How do
you react?
BAD person: Insights riot, sets trashcans on fire, tips over
cop cars, breaks car windows. Shouts their team’s name prefaced by a cuss word.
So proud of their actions, they grin into the news cameras.
GOOD person: gets the heck out of there. Fast.
Okay, let’s go back to that first scenario and put yourself
in the BAD person’s position. But first let me give you a little background.
BAD person in on the freeway in the first place because she got a call that her
son fell off the jungle gym on the playground and cracked his head open. He was
rushed to the hospital, where she was headed when the multi-car pile up
happened in front of her. She doesn’t have health insurance and only a part
time temp job that pays barely more than minimum wage. She’s already gotten a
disconnect notice from the electric company and she’s two weeks behind paying
rent. BAD person might have made a bad decision to steal money, but she saw an
opportunity that may help pay the hospital bill. Is she a bad person or is she
a person reacting to bad circumstances?
Now, let’s move on to the second scenario. Put yourself in
BAD person’s position. Or better yet, don’t. That person is simply unlawful and
disrespectful.
As you can see, sometimes people are in a victim mentality,
making decisions with what little opportunity they have and other times a
person is just bad. However, in both circumstances, you likely don’t have the
entire story in order to make that determination.
Jeff Mean is King of Bad. But don’t judge him until you’ve
read his entire story.
BLURB:
Jeff Mean would rather set fires than follow rules or observe curfew. He
wears his bad boy image like a favorite old hoodie; that is until he learns he
has superpowers and is recruited by Super Villain Academy – where you learn to
be good at being bad. In a school where one kid can evaporate all the water
from your body and the girl you hang around with can perform psychic sex in
your head, bad takes on a whole new meaning. Jeff wonders if he’s bad enough
for SVA.
He may never find out. Classmates vilify him when he develops good
manners. Then he’s kidnapped by those closest to him and left to wonder who is
good and who is bad. His rescue is the climactic episode that balances good and
evil in the super world. The catalyst – the girl he’s crushing on. A girlfriend
and balancing the Supers is good, right? Or is it…bad?
The Amazon
Sitting front and center in math class the next morning was
the Amazon. Jeff almost stumbled when he saw her. Even folded into a standard
classroom desk, her body went on and on. Her olive skin glowed under the
fluorescent lights. Miles of wavy sable locks tumbled to her waist. A short
skirt revealed a never-ending expanse of legs gracefully wrapped together under
the desk. They seemed indecent. Jeff wasn’t attracted to her, per se, but she
intrigued him. And scared him to death.
Amber colored eyes gleamed when they met his. She looked him
over from head to toe and a half smile curved her full lips. Jeff fought the
urge to scurry past and with all the casual aloofness he could muster, he
sauntered to his desk at the back of the room. He heaved a loud mental sigh
when he was safely behind her. He might understand Pyro’s claim that something
wasn’t right about the Amazon. Though he doubted that he and Pyro were
referring to the same thing.
To Jeff’s dismay, the math teacher had the Amazon introduce
herself to the class. She stood at the front and stared pointedly at Jeff most
of the time. When she spoke he groaned. Her voice was warmed butter
rum—soothing, comforting and intoxicating. Jeff made the mistake of glancing at
her while she spoke about her home in northern Italy. As soon as they made eye
contact, Jeff was transfixed. Though she continued to speak aloud to the class
she also spoke directly to Jeff in his mind. It wasn’t in a language that Jeff
understood, but he knew she was hypnotizing him.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
When the electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her
family around the fireplace and they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her
boys were rather fond of the ending, “And then everybody died, the end.” Now an
award winning children’s author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to
provide an escape hatch from their reality. With a selection of novels for
young adult and middle grade readers and short stories for younger children Kai
entertains children of all ages, and their adults. Visit Kai’s website,
www.kaistrand.com, to browse her books, download companion materials or to find
all her online haunts.
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