The Jackalope Committee and Other Tales
Author
LB Sedlacek
Description
A book of short stories including the title story new from LB Sedlacek. The stories are mostly science fiction with the title story delving into the mystery behind the mysterious Jackalope! Other stories dive into sailing and sailors, two guys having tea in a tea shop dive diner, a bank robbery and more. Published by Alien Buddha Press: “LB Sedlacek writes compelling tales that will have you thinking about deja vu, jackalopes, and deeper existential issues long after you’ve finished. Pick this one up!” – Nakayla Gallegos, Author of Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires
Book excerpt
THE JACKALOPE COMMITTEE I. I work at the United States Senate. My office is SR-33B. It’s in the basement of the Russell building. If you ask one of the guards at the entrances, or call the switchboard, you won’t find us listed. Officially, my committee does not exist. Jackalope: also known as antilabbit, the jackalope is the cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope thought to inhabit the southwestern United States. The first question out of the Reporter’s mouth was nothing new. Nothing I hadn’t heard before or even questioned myself. I didn’t let it show. I didn’t let a peep of what I was feeling show on my face. This Reporter, as all the others, would not see a crease in the lines burrowed into my forehead – four to be exact and all of them way too early for someone who’d just celebrated their fifty-second birthday. No, this Reporter would not even hear a crack or waiver in my voice or see any needless twitches of my eyelids, no sudden hand gestures, no methodical creasing of the polyester gray pants I wore every other day rotating pairs of grays with pairs of blacks and blues. I nodded my head. Extended my hand and smiled with the swift movements I had been perfecting for almost a decade. “So, Mr.-.” I glanced down at the sheaf of papers fastened to my clipboard. A one by three photograph was attached in the upper right hand corner. The picture had been stapled to a clearance form that Reporters had to fill out to walk through the hallowed halls, or more correctly the Security machines, of the U.S. Senate. “Mr. Fox, I presume?” I looked at the short round man in front of me. He had a wide mustache that was fiercely brown. His wild tufts of gray hair were combed over in pieces with bits of flesh peering thorough in sporadic patterns. “You don’t look much like this picture, do you?” “It was taken several years ago. I’ve never had it updated. Guess I don’t want the camera to make me look old.” “Looks like this was taken what ten, fifteen, twenty years ago?” “I’ve been a Reporter with the Chronicle for more than seventeen years.” He looked down at his feet. Shuffled his polished black loafers on the equally smooth linoleum floor. We stood in the basement corridors of the Senate Russell Building abbreviated as SR for addresses, nameplates, whatever. The Senate buildings were all linked with corridors running underneath the sweltering streets of Washington, DC. There was also a tunnel to the Capitol and a small underground subway. It ran from each of the three buildings to the Capitol’s escalators and elevator banks. My official title was Administrator of Underground Transportation for the U.S. Senate. Because I only had to oversee the subway staff of two it left me plenty of free time for my other duties. “Let’s walk, shall we?” We started a slow shuffle towards the sound …
Genre Fiction
Author Website http://www.lbsedlacek.com
Best place to buy your book https://www.amazon.com/Jackalope-Committee-other-tales/dp/B0B2GMLWZK
Email lbsedlacek@gmail.com