Joe knew his mother was cruel and violent, but he trusted his beloved father to protect him from her. When a freak accident saw his father burn to death in front of him, Joe was left at the mercy of his mother. Without the love of his friend and brother, he wouldn't have survived. With them, he went on to spend his life fighting child abuse. Joe was just five years old and the horrific scene literally struck him dumb. He didn't speak for four and a half years, which meant he was unable to ask anyone for help as his life turned into a living hell. His schizophrenic mother and two of his older brothers spent the following years beating him, raping him and locking him in the cellar at the family home. Fed on scraps that he was forced to lick from the floor, he was sometimes left naked in the dark for three days without human contact. Unable to read or write, all Joe could do to communicate his suffering was draw pictures. The violence and sexual abuse grew in severity as more people, including his stepfather, were invited to use him in any way they chose. The only thing that saved Joe was the kindness of his elder brother and his only school friend, both of whom showed him that love was possible even in the darkest of situations. At fourteen he finally found the courage to run away, hiding in a hut by a railway line, fed on scraps by some local children who found him. Joe's is the ultimate insider's story, casting light into the darkest of hidden worlds, and a truly inspirational account of how one small boy found the strength to overcome almost impossible odds and become a remarkable man. Now that he has found his voice again, Joe speaks out against child abuse and helps support and protect other children whose lives have been blighted by it.

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Opening lines from - Lily’s Mute Letter
Nestled in an envelope with the last birthday card lays the petal we picked up from the Magnolia strewn lawn, waxy white, thick and moist. Showers of heavy April rain had left the grass sodden, the indents of our footprints leaving a trail behind us, smaller pools of water where my feet had passed, deeper larger puddles along the path you took.

Opening my computer this morning, your face appeared alongside your message each word a barrage of delivery, thwack, thwack, thwack, entering my head like a battery of rounds one after the other, fired by snipers hidden from sight, anonymous behind the screen which shielded the incoming assault. Syllables of soldiers lined up, bearing grenades primed to explode, stars whizzing around my head, spinning, a cartoon of light, the units of language your cannon fire.

‘My life has been perfect since I met you, sex with you is amazing, like nothing I’ve experienced before, you’ve transformed me, when I’m with you I can think of nothing else but ****king you, you drive me crazy!’

I check the date and imagine your fingers typing, hitting the keys a deliberate tap, tap, tap, drip, drip, dripping your message, just as I imagine your fingers tracing my skin; my mute reply awaits input, the cursor flashing expectantly, flat screen, blinding white, but your fingers are still on my skin. I’m reminded of your hands, the places they’ve travelled, over me and inside me, visiting my neck gently, a precursor for your tongue, primed for the ultimate sensation; I allow a shiver to tingle its way through my twinkling senses and I think of your lips...

Enjoyed this sample? Download the full story today...

Warning - This is a SHORT STORY of circa one thousand three hundred words. Approx ten Kindle pages.

Adults only: Content is sexually explicit and is unsuitable for readers under the age of 18.

www.secretnarrative.com

Opening lines from - Lily’s Mute Letter
Nestled in an envelope with the last birthday card lays the petal we picked up from the Magnolia strewn lawn, waxy white, thick and moist. Showers of heavy April rain had left the grass sodden, the indents of our footprints leaving a trail behind us, smaller pools of water where my feet had passed, deeper larger puddles along the path you took.

Opening my computer this morning, your face appeared alongside your message each word a barrage of delivery, thwack, thwack, thwack, entering my head like a battery of rounds one after the other, fired by snipers hidden from sight, anonymous behind the screen which shielded the incoming assault. Syllables of soldiers lined up, bearing grenades primed to explode, stars whizzing around my head, spinning, a cartoon of light, the units of language your cannon fire.

‘My life has been perfect since I met you, sex with you is amazing, like nothing I’ve experienced before, you’ve transformed me, when I’m with you I can think of nothing else but ****king you, you drive me crazy!’

I check the date and imagine your fingers typing, hitting the keys a deliberate tap, tap, tap, drip, drip, dripping your message, just as I imagine your fingers tracing my skin; my mute reply awaits input, the cursor flashing expectantly, flat screen, blinding white, but your fingers are still on my skin. I’m reminded of your hands, the places they’ve travelled, over me and inside me, visiting my neck gently, a precursor for your tongue, primed for the ultimate sensation; I allow a shiver to tingle its way through my twinkling senses and I think of your lips...

Enjoyed this sample? Download the full story today...

Warning - This is a SHORT STORY of circa one thousand three hundred words. Approx ten Kindle pages.

Adults only: Content is sexually explicit and is unsuitable for readers under the age of 18.

www.secretnarrative.com

Mute is science fantasy of mutation and psi: special mental powers. The protagonist, Knot, is a double mutant: he has a physical deformity, and the psi power to make others forget him. He’s satisfied with his life--until the lovely Finesse walks into his life to recruit him for a dangerous galactic mission. She is aided by two small animal mutants: a telepathic weasel and a clairvoyant crab. Knot tries to resist, aided by his psi, but the woman’s beauty and the animals’ powers doom him to a phenomenal adventure.

The prior edition was cut; this is the complete version.

Jacques Rancière has continually unsettled political discourse, particularly through his questioning of aesthetic "distributions of the sensible," which configure the limits of what can be seen and said. Widely recognized as a seminal work in Rancière's corpus, the translation of which is long overdue, Mute Speech is an intellectual tour de force proposing a new framework for thinking about the history of art and literature. Rancière argues that our current notion of "literature" is a relatively recent creation, having first appeared in the wake of the French Revolution and with the rise of Romanticism. In its rejection of the system of representational hierarchies that had constituted belles-letters, "literature" is founded upon a radical equivalence in which all things are possible expressions of the life of a people. With an analysis reaching back to Plato, Aristotle, the German Romantics, Vico, and Cervantes and concluding with brilliant readings of Flaubert, Mallarmé, and Proust, Rancière demonstrates the uncontrollable democratic impulse lying at the heart of literature's still-vital capacity for reinvention.

"Mute" by Richard Matheson is the story of a strange foreign boy who cannot speak ... because he has been deliberately raised to communicate psychically. Part of a scientific experiment, his upbringing in the United States was a well-kept secret until his parents died. Then, taken in by the local sheriff and his wife, Paal's problems really start. How can he live in a world that's determined to force him to communicate vocally? And what will his adoptive parents do if -- or when -- the other scientists show up looking for the boy?

"Mute" was the basis for an episode of "The Twilight Zone" TV series, scripted by Richard Matheson from this short story.

"Mute" by Richard Matheson is the story of a strange foreign boy who cannot speak ... because he has been deliberately raised to communicate psychically. Part of a scientific experiment, his upbringing in the United States was a well-kept secret until his parents died. Then, taken in by the local sheriff and his wife, Paal's problems really start. How can he live in a world that's determined to force him to communicate vocally? And what will his adoptive parents do if -- or when -- the other scientists show up looking for the boy?

"Mute" was the basis for an episode of "The Twilight Zone" TV series, scripted by Richard Matheson from this short story.

In a world where creatures of legend haunt the lands of men, and to be caught outside after dark means almost certain death, the inhabitants of Isse Tower are amazed when a mute, starving foundling is discovered outside their gates. With no recollection of her name or past, the girl soon realizes that her only hope of happiness lies in distant Caermalor, where a wise woman might be able to restore her memories. To get there, Imrhien must survive a wilderness of endless danger. Lost and pursued by unhuman wights, Imrhien is saved by Thorn, a mysterious, handsome ranger who becomes her protector-and the object of her hopeless love. But unknown to them, a dark force summons the Unseelie, and malignant hordes amass in the night. 'Not since Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring have I been so impressed by a beautifully spun fantasy' Andre Norton

This first novel by Australian writer Cecilia Dart-Thornton begins the Bitterbynde series, the saga of a young woman's search for her past as well as her destiny. An orphaned refugee taken in as a servant of powerful Isse Tower, a prominent Relay Station in the world's communications network, the main character is a nameless, badly scarred mute with little hope for better--until he escapes by stowing away on a magical Windship and is befriended by cheerful Sianadh, a self-professed madman and adventurer. Sianadh gives his companion two precious gifts: a name, Imrhien, and the knowledge that he is really she, raised as a boy to protect her from even worse treatment. Together, the two journey into the deep green heart of a great forest, defeat the tricky magics of various eldritch wights, and discover a vast treasure that will change their lives forever. When Imrhien learns of Maeve One-Eye, a healer who may be able to repair her scars and restore her memory, the girl is determined to seek her out. On the dangerous trip west, Imrhien meets and falls in love with the Dainnan ranger Thorn, but doubts he could ever return her affections. While this novel doesn't stand well alone, readers who crave long and detailed journeys through fantastic lands filled with magical creatures will enjoy Imrhien's travels. Dart-Thornton's world takes many traditional elements of epic fantasy and manages to stir them into something charming and new. --Charlene Brusso