Books by Authors Who Never Existed

A Steampunk Hybrid Story

By Dan Watt: author of BARD

Tobey Lawrence Claws

Mr. TLC

Tobey, or as most humans prefer to call him, Mr. T.L.C., stares out the half radio window in the attic of his townhouse.  The monocular goggle over his left eye allows him to see clearly the townhouses across Nigel Street.  Like his own home, in the front of the other townhouses have about ten leaps of lawn and sidewalks.  However, his backyard is significantly longer.  Enough space for a workshop to build a model blimp.  That brings a moment of sadness.

When he thinks of Siku, his adopted human father, he feels a slight ache.  Moreso, he misses Ulysses, the father of Avonlea.  Ulysses and his slobbering joyful demeanor.  Tobey was just a kitten when Ulysses also adopted her.  His huge Newfoundland head and long thick nose; always sniffing for food.  That both Ulysses and Siku may be lost or worse, dead, bothers him endlessly.

With the monocular goggle, his human brother Toklo made him for his nearsighted left eye, Tobey can see interesting things.  He often gazes into the vertical slab of ice in the basement.  Strange ice.  He licked it once.  The surface is wet but no moisture ever stays on his tongue.

Occasionally, he would see movement within the ice.  Toklo believes that their father found a portal near the slab.  However, Toklo couldn’t explore any longer because of the harsh weather.  Now Toklo, and Avonlea are on an airship to rediscover the place.  Tobey isn’t keen on this adventure.  That’s where Tolko found the books, and the note left by their father.