Two high school graduates. As the years pass, one man lives a very normal life. A wife, kids, then divorce, followed by trouble at work and a growing sense that life has no meaning. Meanwhile, his musician ex-classmate has written the single most important song of the century. A song that predicts the future. And that future is aimed squarely at a middle-aged fellow who is already full of regrets.
"In the middle of everything, I spotted an article in our local paper. Reprinted straight from The New York Times, it talked about an obscure song and all the ludicrous predictions that had come true. Plus those still waiting for the chance.
"Read his lyrics in the proper way, wrote the reporter, and the songwriter had successfully predicted every President starting with Reagan.
"'The chimp's sidekick,'" Marv called him. Bush was, 'Texas Yale.' Then there was, 'The little rock has busy rocks.' Plus our current Top Dog: 'The hero from the flatlands!' And there were other predictions that became history. 'The eye-told us what to do!' was the Iranian hostage mess. Three Mile Island was 'The Amish meltdown.' The collapse of the Soviet Union had its own full verse, complete with the birthmark and the wall tumbling down and tanks shooting at their White House."
Robert Reed is the author of many published science fiction stories. He won a Hugo Award for the novella "A Billion Eves." His latest novel is THE DRAGONS OF MARROW, published exclusively as a Kindle book
Genre: Science Fiction
"In the middle of everything, I spotted an article in our local paper. Reprinted straight from The New York Times, it talked about an obscure song and all the ludicrous predictions that had come true. Plus those still waiting for the chance.
"Read his lyrics in the proper way, wrote the reporter, and the songwriter had successfully predicted every President starting with Reagan.
"'The chimp's sidekick,'" Marv called him. Bush was, 'Texas Yale.' Then there was, 'The little rock has busy rocks.' Plus our current Top Dog: 'The hero from the flatlands!' And there were other predictions that became history. 'The eye-told us what to do!' was the Iranian hostage mess. Three Mile Island was 'The Amish meltdown.' The collapse of the Soviet Union had its own full verse, complete with the birthmark and the wall tumbling down and tanks shooting at their White House."
Robert Reed is the author of many published science fiction stories. He won a Hugo Award for the novella "A Billion Eves." His latest novel is THE DRAGONS OF MARROW, published exclusively as a Kindle book
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Robert Reed's Will Be