A Rock And A Hard Place: The Balancing Act

By Sokonzapi Mashava

A tale of the complexities of navigating an intricate co-existence between man, animal and modern nature. In this encounter, creation converges to a place of survival of the fittest. Nature collides with modernity in a small-town community of North America.

A family of five migrates cross-country, Southward bound. Their journey kicks off on a New Year's eve at sunset. It is the beginning of a cold Winter. Having come straight from big city life, an abandoned and somewhat dilapidated homestead
becomes the family's 'new' home: a new of a kind. Right from the start, drama awaits them, lurking on route to their destination. They race through the night; an enthralled escapade from the hustle and bustle of big-city lifestyle.

Their relocation bid is a 'just-in-time' antidote remediating the chaos of an embattled major metropolis. The story setting is a time when the nation is besieged by a mysterious plague. A Great Pandemic is wrecking havoc across the globe, terrifying the landmass and prompting an exodus of the people en-masse. As life unraveled in the small town, there were unexpected encounters between the elements.

Cohabitation with self-determined and arrogant creatures in a kind of 'small-town zoo' was anything but what the escapees yearned for. The Blake family took leave of the inner city hoping to exorcise themselves of their 'demons'. But those invisible spirits seemed to linger on everywhere, bedeviling their every attempt, if they dared to find tranquility.
Decipher the code in the text, mint out your own interpretation and find your own narrative of the story that is to your heart's content.

Because, in the mind of the author: a stretch of imagination or the lack thereof, is the aberration separating possibilities from reality.

This book was written by Sokonzapi Mashava during the years 2022 to 2023 as a tribute to all those people fighting for a better life for themselves and their family. The story is 'sculpted' artistically by the author as a true testament to his 'masonry' expertise. The story is a 'spiced up' version of the author's real experiences moving to a new neighborhood in Central New York from Boston, Massachusetts. For real, for real - including Mark the Chuck. There is a touch of enlightened humor which is a reflection on the author's innermost emotions at particular moments in his exploration of new horizons.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G5LK9CFR
• ISBN13: 9798274701730
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"