Also by J. Z. Colby:
Ariel’s Grove
Standing on Your Own Two Feet:
Young Adults Surviving 2012 and Beyond
an epic young-adult science fiction adventure includes the new novella:
Escape from Sonmatia Two
by J. Z. Colby
and ten previously-published short stories by winners of the past Nebador writing contests, the narrative about King Zolko’s people on Sonmatia Four, and three new short stories by winners of the Last Nebador Writing Contest: Still Voices
by Mary Anne Brenner
Floating Away
by Tiffany Pertranovich
The Lonely Space Dragon
by Sammy McNeil
Copyright © 2016 by J. Z. Colby
All rights reserved, but freely distributable as this PDF file with attribution, without charge, in its entirety Cover art by Sidney Oster
NEBADOR10EA23: Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), 8.25” x 11” (printable on letter or A4 paper), 186 total pages, medium print (12-point Georgia type), includes cover art and 13 short stories by winners of the Nebador writing
contests
This special PDF edition has no ISBN.
Other editions of this book:
978-1-936253-89-0
hardcover (10-point type)
978-1-936253-90-6
paperback (10-point type)
978-1-936253-91-3
paperback medium print (12-point type)
978-1-936253-92-0
paperback large print (18-point type)
Greetings, young people of planet Earth, I must admit to being in a very strange mood, one that has lasted for many months, as I complete the final polishing of this book. To understand this mood, I must think back over the previous year of writing Escape from Sonmatia Two, coaxing the seven youth who attempted short stories for the Last Nebador Writing Contest, and finally helping the three who finished their stories to make them as good as possible.
Although we usually think of “moods” and other emotional states as stemming from human relationships, it appears that my current mood is coming from Mother Earth herself. During late 2015 and early 2016, some very unsettling news has begun to peek out of the usual noise of mostly-unimportant happenings around the world. These critical news items, completely ignored by the vast majority of people, are starting to make me think that my inspirations for the NEBADOR series are drying up at just the right time.
Mother Earth is changing, and she’s not keeping it a secret. A thousand —
maybe ten thousand — news stories could fit this description, but three rise above all the rest. First, she’s getting hotter. As I write these words, the Earth has been experiencing record heat for twelve months in a row. Second, the floating Arctic ice cap is thinning and melting. It might look about the same, but it’s in terrible condition and getting worse quickly. Third, just this spring the Carbon dioxide level in the air did a major jump upward that is hard to explain.
None of these three things has ever happened before, except maybe far back in deep geologic time. These three news items are telling me that slow, creeping climate change is NOT what is happening. Predictions for slight changes by the year 2100 are wrong. A new game is afoot, which is beginning to be called “climate disruption.”
I hope all the NEBADOR stories will help prepare young people for the years ahead. I wish I could spend a week with each of you, showing you the joys of climbing a thousand feet in elevation, from the river to the ridge, to strengthen your bodies, or walking through the woods at night with coyotes yapping in the distance, to strengthen your minds. I will continue to teach and train the few young people, and their families, who are sent to me by the universe, and hope that these stories help the rest of you deal with the changes happening to Mother Earth.
J. Z. Colby
2016
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