Ghetto FairyTales : A Collection of Flash Fiction

By Rarain Thomas

As a child, my mother encouraged me to read. We made frequent visits to the library and I was introduced to books about the traditional fairytales many children read that ended with 'happily ever after.' I grew up in East Oakland, a Northern California ghetto, where most tragedies did not end happily. I was raised as part of a loving family. Not the traditional mother and father combination, but surrounded by the love of my mother who affectionately referred to herself and two sons as Ma Barker and her boys. My grandfather provided a positive male influence instilling integrity and a stringent work ethic. Although I was surrounded by a lot of loving and encouraging people, I encountered quite a bit of the negativity that infects many ghettos: guns, murder, drugs, prostitutes and thugs. A few years ago, I moved from East Oakland, and about a year or so ago decided to drive by the old family home. During my drive, I saw that the characters had changed, but thugs still monopolize the same street corner that has been ridden with drug sales since 1980s and prostitutes still pace the same avenue looking for tricks. After returning home, I started thinking about what draws someone to crime, drugs and prostitution. I began imagining scenarios: car theft by gunpoint, a young girls journey into prostitution, and the cheating husband. My mind was racing with ideas so I grabbed a note pad and pen and started to write. In one day, I wrote two short stories. From that point, I created eight additional stories and that was the conception of Ghetto Fairytales. With Ghetto Fairytales you will embark on a journey like never before. These are definitely not the fairytales you've read as a child. These stories deliver non-stop action that may make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin. From start to finish, read as thugs rip apart the community by intimidation, physical attacks and bullying. Imagine if you will, trying to survive one of these ordeals that some of us only read about and have yet to experience.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 149215671X
• ISBN13: 9781492156710
• Release Date: February 2014
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.2" x 5.0"