John T. Cullen has authored over 20 books, including The Generals of October (Simon & Schuster, 2004)—pulse-pounding political-military suspense fiction set in a near-future U.S. Constitutional crisis.
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John T. Cullen also writes screenplays, including one for Nebula Express (adapted from his SF novel) and the violent, darkly glistening, utterly strange tale of a serial killer in Scorpion.
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Robinson Crusoe 1,000,000 A.D.
a novel
by John T. Cullen
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21.
Keeping his stomach full with whatever edible bits he could find, he built a shelter for himself out of fallen tree limbs.
He propped these up, as many as he could find, against the largest of his rocks, which stood head-high to him. He found also in the forest two kinds of covering that he could lay upon his lean-to. He found sheets of damp leaves that had decayed into crumbly layers and then dried out, which he laid over his dwelling. He was well aware that one good rain could wipe out his work and leave him soaked and chill—somehow, he would overcome that problem also. He found a wonderful kind of moss in the forest—sheets of it, hanging from tree limbs—just not very much of it, though he glimpsed huge harvests of it across the chasm where he’d struck the ripper cub with his rock. Soon, he thought, he would outgrow the resources of this island of safety and would have to venture out as Robinson Crusoe had—just not with a musket, but maybe he could fashion other weapons. He spied the cattle again and thought—the Native Americans had fashioned their lives around the buffalo—what if he could do the same with those animals?
He now had a semicircular shelter, three or four layers of limbs and twigs thick. Into its crevices he packed leaves, soil, and moss. He laid as many flat stones as he could over the top, and between those fine stones, without taxing the roof too much. He covered this with palm fronds and broad leaves to prevent rain from gouging the roof apart in minutes. He made two rows of large rocks, one on each side, to prevent the flow of rainwater around the front of the boulder. He left a small opening along one side of the boulder, just enough to wiggle in and out.
Now he had a shelter. It was getting late in the day, and with the light gone, and just a dim sliver of the moon visible, he would soon be unable to function. Fortunately, it was near summer, and the daylight shone longer than the hours of night. The weather was mild, though a tall white wall of puffy cumulus moving in from the sea did worry him a bit. He wasn’t sure the roof of his abode would survive an intense rain. He would have to continue building and reinforcing.
He found three more of the huge beetles, which he cracked open and sucked empty after flicking away the detritus of their digestive organs.
So, as dark fell on his first full day, he filled his shelter to the brim with dry leaves. He was pleased at the small progress he’d made. But he dreaded the night ahead. And he was not disappointed in his fears, for he suffered for hours with the cold, shivering violently, at some moments wishing he could just die.
If you like what you're reading, please send at least two other avid readers to this website.
—Thank you! …Your grateful author, John T. Cullen.
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Other gripping books by the author:
Copyright © 2005 by John T. Cullen. All Rights Reserved.
John T. Cullen has been a pioneer in digital publishing since 1996. He is listed by digital publishing historian Karen Wiesner as the sixth digital publisher in history, and the second person to publish serialized chapters on line (starting 1996). His web magazine Deep Outside SFFH was the first to be listed along with the professional pulps in Writer's Market (1999) and was at one time the oldest professional SFFH magazine in the world. John T. Cullen continues to explore new ways to adapt the primordial power of storytelling to emerging new digital opportunities as the Third Millennium springs to light.
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A Walk in Ancient Rome John T. Cullen (Simon&Schuster May 2005) innovative, acclaimed walking & teaching tour—explore every corner of the Imperial capital at its zenith almost 2000 years ago; learn its history—smell and taste the very air of Classical Rome.
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= Summer 2008 =
A Walk in Ancient Rome, Second Edition John T. Cullen (Clocktower Books 2008)—New! Many new maps; images from the unique scale model of AndréCaron of Quebec. Read this innovative book, with its acclaimed walking & teaching tour. Explore every corner of the Imperial capital at its zenith almost 2000 years ago; learn its history. Smell and taste the very air of Classical Rome. The new edition is bigger, like an atlas. Some people have carried the 1st edition with them to Rome, and found it greatly enhanced their experience.
Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, 2nd Ed. John T. Cullen (Clocktower Books, San Diego, Summer 2008). John T. Cullen has tackled the mystery of the ghost at the Hotel del Coronado. He has assembled a dramatic new theory about how and why she violently died on the back steps of the hotel in 1892. A first-class ghost story and whodunit wrapped in one.
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