The Story of Old Roger Goodwill

By Gregory H Frade

Old Roger is the story of a dog who finds a master and a master who never knew he was going to need his help. Together they take of each other and a create a solution, but not before a long adventure from India to Australia. We look at the dog in first person and find how he provides for his family, travels across pirate seas, and escapes death more than once. This is a fun short novel for any reader of any age. Old Roger is like many of us. Simultaneously, we struggle and thrive when faced with danger. That's what makes life worth living.
We will meet Roger and his family as they survive the winter outside of a crumbling building, the Blacksmith who's known for hard work and little adventure, and then Captain Forman who seems to be the hero of it all. In the end, each plays their part to rid a once peaceful area of hooligans and set things right before winter is over.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gregory H Frade
• Release date: Jul 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310508110

Book preview

The Story of Old Roger Goodwill

Gregory H Frade

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 Gregory H Frade

All rights reserved.

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First Edition

Front Cover design: Gregory H Frade

Editor: Erica Krahl

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

Contents

Head Start

The Sea Grants New Hope

The Blacksmith

The Ship

Moving On

Port Hedland

Turn of the Tide

The Secret is Out

Heading Home

Christmas Dinner

Stories can be told, many there are, but some are only as good as those telling them. Many have names and many are unmarked. Some are not meant to be understood completely even in the bluntest of circumstances.

This story is a puzzle of how our lives are put together day-by-day and seen through the lens of an unexpected character. The trick is to find which one you are.

Exploring your deep crevasses of the brain and finding the memories that lingered as a child may be difficult. So explore with me some of the perceptions we hold true to our worlds. Imagine what life is like through the eyes of those we see but who are not in view.

Don't trouble yourself with thinking on all subjects or trying to be a master of one, but instead find the lion inside which yearns for adventure. There is only one way he can be tamed and that's with passion and truth. He can be the king of the jungle but you are the prince of fantasy.

You can be riding away on a journey of hope or danger, despair or fortitude, but never forget that this story is true.

Good luck and be safe, for the paths that lay ahead provide no certainty nor hope but an inevitable end that you will meet, whatever an end that may be.

This short novel is dedicated to my son Bruno, his wonderful mother Anastasia, and a wiser man I hope to see in the mirror someday.

ONE

Head Start

~~~ It all began one cold December night; quiet and dark outside. In the meadows a-far birds were happily singing their little ones to sleep. I looked up and saw the pale moonlight surviving through the clouds keeping me company before I journeyed onward.

Hours passed and I sat patiently, listening and feeling the crisp winter air pass along my ears and snip at my nose. The soil was rich and black like coffee grounds and it swallowed my tired paws. I moved on; each step I took with caution for I had been waiting there for some time. Three days prior my