Michael is thirty-nine and gay. Like his little niece, Kim, who has a learning disability, he is considered a non-citizen under the draconian Normalcy Laws. Kim’s parents quietly arrange to flee to New Zealand, where the Normalcy Laws haven’t been implemented. As Michael has a good job and has been careful to hide his homosexuality, he doesn’t consider going with them. Instead, he remains behind and goes about his business as normal until one morning when he is confronted by two Black Guards. Hooded, Michael is taken to what he assumes is the Department of Law. Once people are taken there, they never see the light of day again. Elimination is the only punishment in the New World Order. There he is interrogated by The Man, a handsome officer of the Black Guards. In a desperately hopeless situation, is there any hope of surviving elimination? No one ever has in the past, but Michael discovers something about The Man that hints at his situation not being as bleak as it appears. Can he dare to hope there is a way out? Or is he so delusional that his fantasies of freedom have clouded his judgment? Under the oppressive Normalcy Laws, nothing is certain.

Forbidden

A noise woke him up. He must have been sleeping deeply because for a moment he was disorientated. Despite having spent so much time in that dimly lit space, he had to remember where he was. He was not at home. He was a prisoner.


“Michael.” It was The Man. “You’ve been lying to me.”


“I’ve asked you more than once whether or not you were a homosexual. You replied you weren’t. The evidence, however, was very much to the contrary.”


“I saw a bit of evidence myself,” Michael retorted. “If you’re referring to the fact I was sporting an erection when you were last here, then you can tar yourself with the same brush.”


The Man was momentarily speechless. “It is unwise to antagonize me.”


Michael shrugged. “I’m not trying to antagonize you. In my defense, I’m merely telling you what I saw.”


“Michael Quinn, you have no defense,” he said finally. “Stand up while I’m talking to you.”


Chapter 15