Pappus & Sonder

R18. The consequences of sex ripple through a lifetime for four college-aged friends, Ruby, Coral, Josh and Luke. Steamy, juicy, racy, yet sensually romantic. Let’s start with wistful Luke, your reflective narrator—the shy watcher. Next, the lovey-dove Coral, the group's collective adhesive. A modern girl with a regency heart, whom Ruby has the hots for. God, she is gorgeous. Coral’s action boyfriend, over-eager Josh, is a hunk who only has sex on his mind and is hopeful Coral will be his first! And risqué Ruby. The little minx is sassy, sharp, conniving, and considering getting inked as the story commences. There is plenty of wayward troupe fun and raucous laughs through high school and college in 1970s Melbourne. Whoops, an overdose of selfishness by everyone at eighteen, and relationships mess because pleasure ignited by pleasure’s ignition is always a pleasure for two or more until someone muddies it with words or actions. So, adult theme warning, erotic impulses are indulged. However, they generate contemplative introspection on friendship, passion, self-centeredness, cheating, brooding, contrition, resilience and love over the next forty years. The story unfolds like recall, intentional or spontaneous, rolling in and out of our minds, non-chronologically. Our yearnings are tattooed under our skin. From there, they will swell back. Ready, set, go, read the ripples! Author Note: The novel is complete, and all 133 chapters will be uploaded and remain unlocked. Dedication For anyone who gifts a second chance Epigraph “all those kids” It is attributed to H.S.Truman, by Henry A. Wallace, diary entry of 10 August 1945. Acknowledgement To the women who shaped my contemplative life and the women, I owe contrition. To my wife, who frames the frame of my life and my daughters, who asked me the perennially unanswerable questions about love and relationships, which triggered me to write the story. To my editors; Nikki, who sparked the novel’s ripples through time and Jennifer, who drew out of me a more engaging and cohesive narrative. To Sonder, coined in 2012 by John Koenig, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. To dandelion pappus; blown free of yearnings. I include the following here because its prudent as a writer: This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. Except where real place names and actual tragic events are used with sensitivity.