Party to a Disaster (Scenes of Winter: Episode 7)

By Chris McAuliffe

Friday night, overwhelmed by his father's denials of Julie Creggan's accusations, Michael escapes with Danny and Austin to the Bro Squad's blow-out party. There amid a spectacular bonfire and a house crowded with music, alcohol and drugs, Michael's compulsion to score a sexual victory with Danny falters but leads to their first stumbling conversation on consent. Others at the party will not be so fortunate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris McAuliffe
• Release date: Jan 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463086766

Chris McAuliffe

I'm a long-time resident of Windsor, CT living with Cheryl, who I've known since first grade and been in love with since senior year in high school. We've raised three children: Aaron, Kay and Rose. Raised three children? That's a vast understatement. Together, these four people have given me experiences and insights which have continually redefined how I see myself and the world I live in.Job-wise, I'm a retired mechanical engineer who designed and developed a specific type of machine used in an aircraft system which few are aware of, but all air travelers depend on. At its best, the job was creative and rewarding and payed the bills. At its worst, it’s something I'm grateful to never have to do again. And now I get to write every day!So call me Chris. I use he/him pronouns. I'm a cis-gender heterosexual white upper-middle-class male who respects the power of labels, the freedom of no one to be limited by them, and my own evolving ignorance.

Book preview

Party to a Disaster

Scenes of Winter: Episode 7

Copyright 2019 Chris McAuliffe

Published by Chris McAuliffe at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. You are welcome to share it with anyone. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to your favorite ebook retailer to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Notes on Scenes of Winter

Summary of Earlier Episodes

Party to a Disaster

About the author

Other books by the author

Connect with the author

Acknowledgements

Learning about writing has been a never-ending quest, and I would have long ago been lost without the companionship and wisdom provided by the Northern Connecticut Writers Workshop and the Windsor Writers Critique Group. Thank you all.

Special thanks to Sarah Gilligan, Annalisa Deal, Shannon Kalahan and Kay McAuliffe for help on this episode.

Cover art provided by Tom McAuliffe (Contact at @mcletters or mcletters.co)

Table of Contents

Notes on Scenes of Winter

Scenes of Winter is a work of fiction inspired by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's 2018 hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. This story is not about the hearings, but focus on the issues raised--sexual violence, gender roles, racial biases and classism, competition versus cooperation--how they intersect in our day-to-day lives.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Summary of Earlier Episodes

Where’s Julie? (Scenes of Winter: Episode 1)

Twenty-six-year-old Julie Creggan has been out of sorts for days. Eric, her boyfriend and two years her junior, has a vague uneasiness that he refuses to unpack. Instead, believing a winter storm has passed, he pressures her to go snowshoeing with him. In the aftermath of a sexual assault—in the shadow of the perpetrator and the resurgence of the storm—a victim and the bystander deal with their inability to communicate with life-altering consequences for them and the world beyond. If Julie survives, where will she go?

Rough House (Scenes of Winter: Episode 2)

Robert Worthington believes himself to be a successful business- and family-man and yet is consumed by a growing sense of despair. Snowed in for the evening by the same storm that threatens Julie, his family avoids him—except for his youngest son, Michael, a high school senior. Despite the father’s repeated deflections, the son attempts to connect by posing one innocuous question. Answering honestly, however, requires that the father challenge his vested winner-deserves-all philosophy. Is he capable of comprehending his own guilt?

Me But Not Me