Avi is a shy songwriter who can make up a funny tune about anything, but he cannot say a word to the girl he loves. His father offers him a choice: ask her out himself, or make a pilgrimage to the capital first. So Avi sets out with his sister Carina, his loud Uncle Rachit, and Bhoora, the family’s giant grizzly bear.
The road takes them through a wall of dust into lands the emperor has struck with drought, down into a canyon, and across the sea on a turtle shell the size of an island. Along the way, Avi meets a bitter rebel, wise shepherds, and a girl named Zariah who seems to know more than she says.
The world is our own earth, renewed and centuries in the future, under the reign of the Everking. The story is openly Christian, and it sets that faith inside a real adventure instead of stopping the adventure to preach.
Start the journey on Amazon. Kindle Unlimited members can read it at no extra cost, and it also comes in paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
AVI STEPPED CAUTIOUSLY through the garden, which was bathed in a dusky light. He hummed softly against the whistling breeze and giggled at the funny shape of the bouncing melody. He let the music rise, adding humor with every note. The original composition bubbled with life and movement. He could hear it taking shape in his mind. Laughable lyrics dropped into place almost without a thought. As he dug his hands into the earth, he was careful not to harm the stocks of the grafted vegetable-fruits. He sang the funny little tune as he excavated his family's garden dinner.
Thy gummy guts, our garden gracious grows.
’Tis time to rise from thy dirt brimming bed.
Mine tummy does speak with a starving groan.
Thy fruity fat, my family will be fed.
The humor of his song stretched a wide smile across his face. He tugged on a row of apricot-carrots. After pulling them into the cool evening air, he knocked the dirt free from each and lined them up in a perfect row. They were delicate, but their flavor was worth the caution. He knew the family would want dozens, but his two hands limited the amount he could carry at once. He gathered as many as he could.
“Avi, come on.” His father called. “It’s almost time.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Do you need a hand?” his dad asked as he walked in Avi’s direction through the lush plantation of blooming ground fruits. He stepped over the patch of ivy-grapes and tiptoed through the berry-grass toward his son. Garden gatherings heaped across his arms as high as his chin. One apricot-carrot fell from Avi’s grasp. He spun quickly and bobbled the veggie-fruit with his sneakered foot before kicking it to his dad. “I guess I should have said, do you need a foot?” They laughed.
