Can an individual make a difference when powerful forces are aligned against democracy? Can someone avoid the stigma of his heritage?

 

It is 1979. After an absence of over three decades, professor Marcus Jacobson has returned to Saint Anglia in the West Indies to take up a position at the university where he hopes to use his vast experience and training to bring the institution into First World standards. Marcus comes from a long line of sugar barons. His father and grandfather owned the last estate on the island. His great-grandfather supplied labour to the estates in the lucrative slave trade between the West Indies and Africa and was responsible for several cruel acts. Marcus has suffered due to his discreditable lineage and is now hoping to bury the skeletons in his closet.

 

General Marks, head of the armed forces stages a coup within weeks of Marcus’ arrival. The General is power hungry and sees himself as head of a re-federated West Indies. His Aide, CAPTAIN STEVENSON, key to the coup, is promoted to Colonel for services rendered. Marks, however, is only vaguely aware of Stevenson’s devious nature, which includes the recruitment of THE REVEREND, previously of Jonestown, Guyana infamy. Mark’s coup is successful and he moves swiftly to consolidate his power. However, opposition mounts unexpectedly from different factions.

 

Marcus is reluctant, at first, to join the opposition to the Junta. He feels his heritage and long absence from the island do not give him the right to intervene. When he sees the brutality of the Junta in Columbus Circle, however, he joins the alliance in an attempt to force a return to democracy.

 

Everything comes to a head when Marcus and his co-conspirators are picked up and the Junta wants to know the extent of the plot, who else is involved and where they are hiding. Amid all the chaos and turbulence, Hurricane David strikes. Will Marcus and the conspirators survive the brutal response of the Junta? Will democracy be restored to Saint Anglia?

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Madawaska Highlander Connection

Ken Puddicombe is one of the judges in the Madawaska Highlander's Short Story Contest. He is a Guyanese-Canadian author living in Brampton and a member of a number of writers circles including the Brampton Writers Guild where he met Garry Ferguson and fellow Short Story judge, Michael Joll. He is a retired accountant who founded MiddleRoad Publishers primarily to provide a platform for "struggling authors" and to ensure that literary works—especially those reflecting Caribbean and Canadian experiences—"see the light of day."

 

His motivations were driven by a mix of personal history, a desire to mentor others, and the practical challenges he observed in the publishing world. This philosophy matches what the Short Story Contest is all about. 

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