The Watcher

By Joshua Pantalleresco and Florence Chan

On the top of a tower, guarded by dragons, the Watcher gazes out into the horizon. While the rest of his tribe work and toil, he questions what is beyond the walls. Determined to find out, he escapes his captors to find out just what is out there. An imaginative and engaging story, The Watcher will help you see poetry in a whole new way. Escape

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mirror World Publishing
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780992049034

Joshua Pantalleresco

Joshua Pantalleresco is a writer, wanderer, columnist and dreamer. He publishes interviews at both his blog at http://michaelthroughtime.wordpress.com and http://www.comicmix.com. He published his first book of poetry I Am... ten years ago and is now publishing his second, The Watcher right here at Smashwords. It is his first ebook. He lives in Calgary.

Book preview

The Watcher

Written by

Joshua Pantalleresco

Illustrated by

Florence Chan

Edited by

Kristen Denbow

E-BOOK EDITION

The Watcher © 2013 Joshua Pantalleresco

Illustrations © 2013 Florence Chan

Edited by Kristen Denbow

All Rights Reserved. Published June 2014

*No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

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

Mirror World Publishing

Windsor, Ontario

www.mirrorworldpublishing.com

[e-mail]

Mirror World Publishing publications data available upon request

ISBN: 978-0-9920490-3-4

No work is done alone

I thank the following people for being awesome and helpful in making this book possible:

Florence Chan and Kristen Denbow (naturally), Lance Buan for his design advice and insight,  Dylen Sproul for being my first beta reader, and Dirk Manning for his encouragement.

My dad, for being my dad, my sister, for constantly inventing new ways to say the F word and for being an amazing artist in her own right, and my grandmother for her love.

Cory McConnachie and Robert McDonald for putting up with me.

Special thanks to Murandy Damodred and Justine Alley Dowsett for giving me an opportunity I never ever expected with Mirror World Publishing.

Finally, to God and whatever Muse made me see this world and story unfold. It was a surprise to me and one I’m grateful for.

This book is dedicated

To The Mills Family

For being there

I. The Watcher

alive and aware as the light comes in

rising to the sound of the morning drum

it’s plantation time

all of us work extra hard

they said we’d have bigger shares this year

if we did good

we wanted to try

I look to my mom and dad still sleeping

their hands calloused

their skins toughened

catching that last extra minute of shut eye

before they come

the light darkens

snouts forming silhouettes in the shadows

scaly reptilian eyes and angel wings gaze down on them

he (she/it?) knows

for just a second, there is mercy

then justice