Falling From the Ground

Excerpt From Chapter 3 - Feeding the Pythons

At the table Olivia swallowed her last bite of awesome cheeseburger. Mr. Nunios was right; the food was great. The old wood paneling made everything dark, but antique stained glass lamps, each one different, hung over the tables. In the yellow light of the lamps, Olivia saw dozens of black and white photographs stuck on the mirror. Many were of parties from long ago with people dancing in suits and dresses. In some they wore paper party hats like it was New Year’s Eve or something. Some were close-ups, signed by people Olivia had never heard of, but who must have been famous once. She wondered if she signed a picture and hung it on the mirror, would some kid in fifty years think she had been a celebrity because she had a picture hanging on the wall.

The table was littered with their dirty plates. Everyone’s antique map placemat was stained with ketchup and barbecue sauce except Mrs. Nunios’s. Her map was still clean. Olivia could see the tentacles of a mythical sea monster just offshore near a finger of land labeled Cape November.

Feeling guilty for picking at her fries in front of Alison, Olivia covered her plate with her paper napkin like Alison had. That had been Alison’s nutritionist’s suggestion. If Alison finished all her fries, her mother would be all over her about it.

To distract herself from the fries, Olivia watched Michael tip back in his chair and pat his rock-hard abs. The terrifying boneyard in his plate used to be his Oink and Cluck Deluxe platter...

TONIO FAVETTA IN HIS OWN WORDS...

When I was much younger, I loved listening to the stories my older relatives would tell about their own childhoods.  It was fun to imagine my elderly relatives running around, getting into mischief.  Around this time I also had an enviable collection of action figures, assuming you were a kid who envied other kids’ action figures.  I used to spend hours sending them on adventures, looking for treasure and fighting epic battles of good against evil as I understood those concepts.

By high School I had a girl friend who was into writing.  She encouraged me to write.  Guys have done stupider things to impress girls and since I had mostly given up playing with action figures by then and had definitely given up studying for Latin quizzes, I had time on my hands so I gave writing a shot.  It was about a guy who had to rescue his girlfriend from the underworld and fight his way through demons and hellfire.  It was a mash-up of the Orpheus myth and an 80’s action movie.  In my defense, it was the 80’s.   My girlfriend said she liked it,  but she was just being nice.  I had fun writing it though, and I have been writing ever since.

FROM THE BEGINNING IT IS CLEAR...

THE TOWN IS NOT THE PARADISE MOM AND DAD REMEMBERED FROM THEIR TEENAGE YEARS.  IT IS PRACTICALLY DESERTED—EXCEPT FOR THE STRANGERS IN A WHITE VAN WHO KEEP FOLLOWING THEM.  THE MANSION THEY’RE STAYING IN MIGHT BE HAUNTED.  A MYSTERIOUS GIRL LIVES UPSTAIRS AND THERE ARE RUMORS OF A SEA MONSTER.  WHEN MOM AND DAD JOIN THE LONG LIST OF MISSING PEOPLE, IT’S UP TO ALISON AND OLIVIA, ALONG WITH ALISON’S BIG BROTHER MICHAEL, TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF CAPE NOVEMBER TO SAVE THEM, AND MAYBE THE WORLD.

Falling From the Ground...

The thrilling new novel by Tonio Favetta for young adults and the young at heart is now available through Amazon.