1-Line Wednesday | June 7

"Greetings. I did not see you at our service today, nor have I seen you before."

"We're just passing through sir," Nethaefarason said.

"I'm not a sir. I'm the Friend. I have re-established this town under my own image, as a place to welcome everyone and worship together. After contracting the disease, I passed away. I was then reborn as the Friend, a being beyond the petty conflicts of society. I am beyond gender and beyond race."

"You're not beyond race. You're clearly a human," Nethaefarason complained.

"My body perhaps, but that's not who I am on the inside. I am not human. I am the Friend. I came upon Whityng Gale after the disease wiped out everyone. I was determined to rebuild it as a safe place for us to practice a new, radical form of love and forgiveness."

This excerpt from “The Feckless King” introduces the characters to a person known only as the Friend as they travel through the northern town of Whityng Gale. The Friend is a pastor who has formed a religious organization while casting aside material items including their own identity.

This character was inspired by a real person. Jemima Wilkinson, after recovering from a near-fatal illness, renamed themselves as the Public Universal Friend and formed a religious society.

Want to know what happens next? “The Feckless King” is now available on Amazon.