Bad Dreams: Short Stories of Imagination Unleashed

By Crispin Jackson

You’ve heard of what happens when the mind is allowed to wander past its reasonable limits. This is no different. Immerse yourself in a collection of things gone wrong. There is barely any sunshine in a bad dream. All you encounter is tragedy upon tragedy, heaps upon heaps of misfortune mixed with spots of relief.

When you close your eyes, it really is over. While you would wish to wake up, you find that you cannot. For stretches at a time, the mind gives way to limitless wanderings, far from where things make sense. In this place, you encounter the following: creatures called minotaurs who are bent on enslaving humans, the prototype for a car that is way too unsafe, and a unique take on the Fountain of Youth.

Journey with Crispin Jackson as he takes you down paths where no author has ventured before. Imagination is good to run wild. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jan 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781638294788

Crispin Jackson

Crispin Jackson is a native New Yorker. He appreciates classic literature and has absorbed a large amount of literature since childhood. He was inspired to write while in college, and since then, he has earned a bachelor’s degree from City College. He enjoys singing and long walks. He boasts a large selection of his own writing.

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About the Author

Crispin Jackson is a native New Yorker. He appreciates classic literature and has absorbed a large amount of literature since childhood. He was inspired to write while in college, and since then, he has earned a bachelor’s degree from City College. He enjoys singing and long walks. He boasts a large selection of his own writing.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my mother. Her wisdom on obtaining an education has brought about extraordinary results. This book is one of them.

Copyright Information ©

Crispin Jackson 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

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

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Jackson, Crispin

Bad Dreams

ISBN 9781638294771 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781638294788 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022922176

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the staff at Austin Macauley Publishers for sharing this journey with me. These men and women have offered their expertise during difficult times.

My sincerest gratitude goes to the people who have encouraged my fiction writing. Their words have provided the confidence I needed to proceed with this book. Also, I have gained a sense of purpose from the places that offered me education. My vocabulary was the result of much hard work. My teachers and professors have built in me a resilience toward mental challenges.

I cannot thank my mother enough for providing me with the tools to get ahead. Her constant urging to perform well in school was priceless. This book is a memorial to all of the individuals I haven’t mentioned. Their assistance was greatly appreciated.

Focal Point

The focal point was only the beginning for Manson, but it seemed like the very end. The truth was that every second spent there was seconds that ticked on a time bomb. Things were dangerous. Those in authority violated every moral code in virtually every holy book that was even allowed to reach the good people of Razon. It all started when those with rank in the focal point bartered with the recruits in exchange for favors, sexual favors. It wasn’t long before rape ensued, and every fragment of the recruits’ very being was crying out for an end to ineffable pain. Things started to change for the recruits over a period of a decade when they bartered the right way. They knew they were needed, so they capitalized on this truth. Like the members of any free society, the recruits had an ingrained reflex to become something worth something to someone. Deemed to be extraordinary in their capabilities, they were clamoring to no longer be outcasts, but to be declared as free men and women. It was this environment that Manson found himself in.

So, what’s your ability?

The fellow recruit before Manson looked friendly enough to elicit a response.

I don’t know, Manson answered truthfully.

The recruit named Jason was shocked. This first exchange resulted in the beginnings of friendship. They discussed many things outside of their training, among them a working plan to escape. Manson was the brains among them, and Jason was dumbfounded. He was scared also. The plan that flowed from within him was viable, but not easy at all to execute. Both of them divulged this plan to some of the others, and when it seemed like escape was forthcoming, that’s when Manson received a letter. The letter, which in itself was a plea, was written by the hand of a woman named Paras. It wasn’t because she was a complete stranger to Manson that was cause for alarm. It was the fact that she said she was from a planet called Earth.

Manson held the letter in one hand and struggled to stand up. He understood what the letter was saying but felt like he needed to take a walk. When he checked with security personnel at the front desk, Manson was told that he had better be back before curfew. He stuffed the letter in his jacket pocket, and as he walked briskly under the