Book Excerpt
The Brown Line to Auschwitz
The Friday
started no differently from any other. Richard took the Brown Line downtown to
his place of business. For those who don’t know, the Brown Line is a
ramshackle, barely functioning rail train built over one hundred years ago. It
looks and operates as if its last tune-up occurred over one hundred years ago.
The Brown Line is one of those color-coded trains that make up the greater
Chicago L system, coursing through the city’s anatomy like old-man blood
vessels, clumsily pumping life in and out of the loop at the city’s heart.
Richard’s ride downtown that morning was more depressing
than usual, meaning it was basically soul crushing. The day dawned especially
cold, and Richard’s particular train car didn’t have heat—something not
unusual, though this didn’t make it any less terrible. The temperature on his
phone read a crisp thirty-nine degrees, inside the train. The cold
worsened his hangover. Every slight bump of the train racked his skull like an
artillery explosion. The ride was one long, torturous barrage. Midway through,
Richard nodded off, or fainted, only to be awakened by a man in a suit talking
enthusiastically and obnoxiously on his phone about how he would project-manage
the fuck out of that project. When a massively pregnant woman saw Richard wake,
she pointed to her belly and asked for his seat. Richard lied and said he’d
sprained an ankle, so couldn’t stand. No one on the train offered the woman a
seat.
As Richard rose to exit the train, feigning a limp, he
noticed for the first time some unusual graffiti written in large red
characters on the ceiling of the train.
NEXT STOP AUSCHWITZ
Richard wondered how different the Brown Line really was
from a Holocaust train. The Holocaust trains couldn’t have been more crowded
than the Brown Line. The Holocaust trains most likely smelled worse, but how
much worse? The Brown Line, frequented by homeless riders, often stank of trash
and shit. Definitely more dead people on a Holocaust train. But then, dead
people had been found on the Brown
Line. The Holocaust trains must have moved faster, considering they were newer
than the Brown Line—it took Richard forty minutes to travel six sluggish miles.
The passenger load on the Brown Line was miserable. Probably not quite as
miserable as the Holocaust riders, but certainly each passenger was unhappy in
his or her own way. Clearly more diversity on the Brown Line.
Richard concluded that the main differences between the
trains were their speed, their passenger demographics, their passenger life
expectancies, and their destinations.
About the Book
Title: The Fairytale Chicago of Francesca Finnegan
Author: Steve Wiley
Genre: Fantasy
“Did you know most anything that
matters in this city was built by magic before it was built by men? Of
course you didn’t. This city is different from other cities. The true
history of it is unpublished. Lucky for you, I know it all by heart.”
~ Francesca Finnegan
In Chicago, a secret L train runs
through the mythical East Side of the city. On that train, you’ll find a
house-cat conductor, an alcoholic elf, a queen of the last city farm,
the most curious wind, and an exceptional girl by the name of Francesca
Finnegan.
When we first encounter Richard K.
Lyons, he is a man who has long forgotten the one night, when he was
still a boy called Rich, when Francesca invited him aboard the secret L
for an adventure though the East Side. The night was a mad epic,
complete with gravity-defying first kisses, mermaid overdoses, and
princess rescues. Unfortunately for Rich, the night ended
like one of those elusive dreams forgotten the moment you wake. Now,
Rich is all grown up and out of childish adventures, an adult whose life
is on the verge of ruin. It will take the rediscovery of his exploits
with Francesca, and a reacquaintance with the boy he once was, to save
him.
Author Bio
Steve is a father, husband, uncle,
brother, friend, and purveyor of fairy stories. He grew up in and around
Chicagoland, where he still lives with his wife and two kids. He has
been published in an array of strange and serious places, from the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., to Crannóg magazine in
Galway, Ireland. This is his first book. He has an undergraduate degree
in something he has forgotten from Illinois State University and a
graduate degree in something equally forgotten from DePaul University.
You can email Steve at Lavenderlinepress@gmail.com, or visit thewileymancan on Instagram.
Illustrator Bio
Chris is an artist who studied at
Columbia College Chicago. He is a Chicago native and has lived here all
his life. Chris’s paintings have been showcased in many local galleries
and beyond. When he feels like it, he travels elsewhere to find
inspiration. You can reach him at Chris.cihon@gmail.com, or visit _ccihon on Instagram.
Links
Book Website: www.fairytalechicago.com
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