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    The Sun King of Florida
    The Sun King of Florida
    The Sun King of Florida
    Ebook46 pages35 minutes

    The Sun King of Florida

    By S.A. Valdes

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    About this ebook

    A billionaire who insists on imitating Louis XIV, the Sun King of France. A son who must come to terms with his eccentric father's infatuation.

    Welcome to Arcadia, the town that billionaire Eric Blake built from the ground up. Mr. Blake managed to find swamp land near Miami that no one wanted to develop. He bought the entire site, dredged it up at great expense and built a small town with an auto pieces factory as an anchor. He retired in Arcadia. All went well for him and his 18-year-old son Jonathan until Mr. Blake felt the need to make a change. He began to imitate the long-dead Louis XIV, the Sun King of France. Now Jonathan must decide what to do: should he go along with his father's infatuation, or should he have him institutionalized?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSAV Books
    Release dateAug 30, 2016
    ISBN9781533799395
    The Sun King of Florida

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      Book preview

      The Sun King of Florida - S.A. Valdes

      1

      My father told me the story of Mr. Bear and The Snake back when I was six years old. The snake shed his skin constantly and every time he did it, he’d adopt a new personality. One day he would be Happy Snake, then he’d shed his skin and he’d become Sad Snake, then in the course of time, he’d shed his skin once again and become Mean Snake. Next time he shed his skin, he became Wise Snake and so on. It got to the point that one day the snake forgot who he really was deep in his heart. Was he a happy snake or sad or mean or wise? He couldn’t tell anymore and he asked the bear for advice. The bear never shed his skin. He was always Mr. Bear, never changed. When it got cold, he went to sleep and hibernated and woke up refreshed. Woke up the same as always, Mr. Bear. When he got hungry he ate fish, which is a healthy food. Mr. Bear said, I don’t know who you truly are, snake. Only you can know that. All I know is that I’m always the same and that’s what I like most about myself.

      When I told this story to the grown-ups, they smiled thinly at me and said:

      Jonathan, your father’s a billionaire. He can get away with telling any story he likes. Even if the story is nonsense.

      They went on to tell me that in this world you kept your true identity to yourself. When you were before other people, you had to put on a mask. You had to be the person they wanted you to be, whether you liked it or not. If you refused to be the person they wanted you to be, then you’d never get ahead in life.

      Apparently I had to learn how to be flexible like a snake to get ahead in life. But I much preferred to be like Mr. Bear. My father was like the bear too. He had always been the very portrait of the tough as nails but down-to-earth businessman. For example, he used to join us in the middle of a South Florida summer and help with construction. He would roll up his sleeves and put in 8-hour days. He wasn’t afraid of sweat or dirt. After his shift was done, he’d sit down, dirty, his back sweating, with dirt under his nails, to a business deal. The immaculately dressed lawyers and bankers would look at him with wide eyes. He faced his opponents all alone. The opposition would bring in a dozen lawyers. He relied on his own wits. It was an uneven match. He always got the best of them. He used to chuckle at the perfectly manicured nails of the lawyers and bankers. It seemed funny to him.

      Then one day dad began to change. He began to grow flexible like a snake.

      2

      Dad had made his

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