Artemesia

By AJ Naseem

Artemesia is a novel based on a magical city. The city exists in the mind of a young boy Francis Drake who lives and talks with animals that reside in the woods near his home. Francis visits this imaginary kingdom every day and has a bond with all the creatures in this magical world. The kingdom called Oz, is a majestic place where all animals co-exist and live peaceably among themselves. But when a mighty flood threatens their kingdom, Francis must rise to the occasion and face the forces of the Dark side to save the kingdom. A superb tale emerges, where Francis must rely on his inner sense and friendship with the creatures of the forest to save the kingdom. Artemesia is a thrilling novel that brings us closer to the animal world and lets us envision a truly ideal utopia where humans and animals live as one and only imagination can help us soar to greater heights.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387862283

Book preview

ARTEMESIA

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Artemesia

First published in 2021 by AJ Naseem

Copyright © 2021 by AJ Naseem

A Knowing Café Publication

Published by Amazon.com

Visit us at www.knowingcafe.blogspot.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise without the express written consent of the publisher.

Publishers Note

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places or incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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ISBN: 978-1-4583-7278-9

First printed in the United States of America

Francis Drake was a quiet boy. He lived on a farm in the Midwest and had never known anything else. His parents had only one child so he had no brothers or sisters. He went to a school in the country with only a few students and had to walk a few miles to get there. His father was a born farmer and got up every morning to milk the cows and feed the chickens and drive the tractor and hardly ever talked or said a word. He just went about his business every day the same way and it was understood that he was to be left alone. His mother, on the other hand, was a doting wife who worked around the house and always kept the place looking clean and immaculate. She would iron, sweep, dust and sew and was the epitome of a perfect house wife. She would cook pot roast and bake pies and leave them out on the ledge that would make Francis run home every time he smelled the sweet fragrance. All in all, it was a quiet but happy life in the country where nothing out of the ordinary happened and every day was the same.

Francis loved his parents and never felt deprived. He had everything he could want and it was a normal childhood. He loved to read under a cherry blossom that was his favorite spot and go fishing on the lake. Sometimes, he would help his father clean the stables and the chicken coups and it gave him a lot of satisfaction.  It felt good to be needed by his father and he admired him greatly. It was typical to see his father on the tractor tilling the fields and working the land until the day passed. It was reassuring to know that his father was dedicated and the farm life was his forte.

The lake was basically a pond at the end of a stream that ran along a wooded path behind the farm and was mainly rain water that accumulated in a sunken meadow. It was a secluded spot where only Francis would go when he felt bored and he loved the secrecy and cover of this hideaway. It was like a secret layer that only he knew where he could hunt and fish and be a typical boy. No doubt every boy needed some kind of pastime and for Francis this was an ideal spot. The lake was like a pristine oasis within the solitary woods and was a perfect setting to sit on the banks and wade, or skip rocks, or gaze at fish or simply walk around the banks and inspect the foliage. All in all, it was a place of curiosity and wonder for a young boy living in the countryside.

Francis would always know when to go back for supper when the sun seemed to overshadow the lake like an eagle’s wing. After supper, he would go up to his room and read comic strips about the masked crusader who was a folk hero who helped poor folks and the downtrodden. He wondered if he could ever grow up to be folk hero himself. He would doze off with the comics next to him and dreaming about the lake and what might be stirring in the moonlight.

In the morning, Francis would get dressed for school and head downstairs for breakfast that was always hot and ready. His mother would stand in front of the window in a white apron that made her look solemn and austere (solemn duchess). Francis would quickly lap up his oatmeal and hope his mother would not question him about doing his chores or spending too much