THE GLASS TOP COFFIN (standard:drama, 1994 words) [9/12] show all parts
Author: Stephen-Carver Byrd	Added: Jan 04 2003	Views/Reads: 2589/1870	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
*** Part 10*** Jordan vs. The Ducks

“THE GLASS TOP COFFIN” 

*** Part 10*** Jordan vs. The Ducks 

By Stephen Bryan (HurricaneWarning) 

July 16th 2035 

Jordan and his wife, Kate, stood in their driveway waving goodbye to Tim
and Heather. The brand new ‘35 Jeep Alaskan rolled slowly up the small, 
dusty trail that would eventually lead to the main highway. In his arms 
Jordan held Meagan, his beautiful two-year old great granddaughter. 
Tim, their grandson, and his wife Heather, were finally on their way to 
a long planned medical convention in Atlanta. Meagan's love for Jordan 
and Kate was immense and she was always eager to spend a few nights 
with the old spoilers. On more than one occasion Tim had lightheartedly 
scolded his grandparents for spoiling the girl with their generous 
volumes of toys and sweets. Megan pointed to the house where she knew 
her new playthings waited. 

It was early Sunday evening and the heat and humidity hung like a heavy
beast in the restful air. All three were sweating profoundly as they 
walked into the house. The cold blast from the air conditioner felt 
dazzling fresh. Megan skittered off into the large open family room and 
began playing with her new toys. Kate went directly to the kitchen and 
embarked on her chore of stacking the dirty dinner plates into the 
dishwasher. Walking out onto his large screened lanai, Jordan poured a 
full shot of Chivas Regal scotch. He lounged himself into a large 
cushioned chair and held the glass closely to his lips. He managed only 
a small sip before carefully placing the glass back down. Jordan looked 
at his shaking hands knowing it was a bad day. Some days were better 
than others but today certainly weren't one of them. Jordan was moving 
into the late stages of Parkinson disease, diagnosed almost fifteen 
years ago when he was sixty-seven. To complicate matters, he had taken 
a nasty fall and was forced to undergo a total hip replacement two 
years earlier. Jordan was still encouraged to walk and he followed his 
doctor's orders five mornings each week. But the Parkinson was what 
really bothered him. It denied him of the very thing he loved best and 
that was to write. The old man sighed as he looked out into the red 
glowing field behind his beautiful home. A large orange ball sat heavy 
on the horizon and somewhere far away, a distant rumble of thunder 
gently shook the earth. Staring blankly into the day-ending glare made 
him think of his very first published novel. It was three-hundred and 
sixty two pages and called “West of Sundown.” He was only twenty-two 
years old and in his senior year at The University of North Carolina 
when it was first published. From there, everything began to snowball. 

Over the following thirteen years, “Jordan Taylor” suspense novels
topped the New York Times Best Seller List on thirty-two separate 
occasions making him one of the most esteemed writers of modern times. 
It also earned him well over sixty million dollars by the ripe old age 
of thirty-five. But then everything changed and Jordan found his 
writing career taking a sudden and unexpected detour. He had been 
following it closely over the last five years. The Power Company was 
right on schedule with its project. It had recently loop-holed through 
a number of environmental laws and sprung ahead with preliminary 
construction of the dam that would eventually block the Kostyu River. 
As he remembered Mr. Moore telling him, the residents and farmers of 
Falls Hills were rapidly vacating the community in droves. Like a dark 
shadow of death, it was slowly creeping over the countryside. That's 
when Jordan decided it was time to bring out the Duck rifle. 

When Jordan told Tom Sneed, his close friend and financial adviser, what
he was planning, the man almost suffered his second heart attack within 
a 32 month period. He had learned that Jordan planned to use the bulk 
of his sixty million to buy up as much property as possible in the 
Falls Hills area. With extreme reluctance, Tom employed three property 
attorneys to work full-time on the acquisitions. Within six months 
Jordan practically owned Falls Hills. The local TV stations and 
newspapers from the big city, 16 miles away, got hold of the story 
early on. And what a story it was: ‘World famous author, Jordan Taylor, 
spends tens of millions to fight for his boyhood community.' CNN got 
hold of the story as well, staging him daily speaking at huge rallies, 
talking with environmental specialist as well as Congressmen. Millions 
of Jordan Taylor fans were writing and giving their full support. The 


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