And Ampersand

By Ryan R. Campbell

Your death comes on slowly, while elsewhere, a nameless man fakes his own. Encased in glass, a young man navigates a world meant for those beyond. A mudslide washes away a once romantic weekend, and a childhood swim drowns all illusion of innocence.

 

These are but some of the tales in And Ampersand: Short Stories on Endings and Beginnings (of a Sort). In this collection of flash fiction, short stories, and freeform prose, International Book Awards finalist R.R. Campbell returns as Ryan R. Campbell to juxtapose genesis and resolution, to bask in the beauty of rebirth in the most unexpected of places and at the most unexpected of times.

 

Born of the author's own reinvention and oft-inspired by true events, And Ampersand is the perfect pocket companion for any reader who's ever tussled with the tie between inception and end.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cedarbrook Books
• Release date: Mar 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781736387108

Book preview

And Ampersand

short stories on endings and beginnings (of a sort)

Ryan R. Campbell

A Cedarbrook Books Publication

Published by Cedarbrook Books

1817 Cedarbrook Lane

Stoughton, Wisconsin 53589

www.cedarbrookbooks.com

And Ampersand: Short Stories on Endings and Beginnings (of a Sort)

Copyright © 2021 by Ryan R. Campbell

Cover Art by Ryan R. Campbell Copyright © 2021

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher.

Printed in the USA

First Edition

March, 2020

eBook ISBN: 978-1-7363871-0-8

This book contains references or allusions to death, including suicide.

for you, before and after, always

Preface

WHAT follows is rebirth.

It’s the distillation of certainty from chaos, the culmination of careful contemplation and reckless devotion. It’s the embrace of intuition over intellect, of emotion and approximation. It’s sunrise coffee and footsteps on pavement, birdsong and blunder, woe at the hands of and triumph over oneself.

Here, together, we’ll endure the shifting of the earth. We’ll endure the sight of land after weeks at sea, its promise