The Essential Introduction...

The Essential Introduction to 'The Adventures of Princess Nadia - The Healing Light'

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As Promised this will be the introduction to the first of my (hopefully) series of novels ‘The Adventures of Princess Nadia – The Healing Light’. I ask that you share this article, but also fervently request that you do NOT; redistribute without my permission, quote without giving me credit, or in any way reprint or distribute this introduction as your OWN! This is my ‘Christmas Gift’ to all of you, My Dear Readers.

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Finally; .I have not gifts to give, except the gifts I make in my head… and I give them ALL to you.

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The story you are about to read is completely true. Well, that is a bit of a stretch. I always have been known… even as a child, as a person who could weave a mighty tail… tale.  My Dear Readers the story you are about to read is no exception. I love to tell stories. There a way for all of us to escape the things that make us unhappy and, for a moment, go someplace that makes us very happy.

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When I say this story you are about to read is completely true, it’s just that it isn’t true... yet. I hope and pray that, in my lifetime, this story does come true. But if it does not, I have complete faith that you, My Dear Readers, will live in a world where this story is true.

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All of the main characters in this story lived. Nakita, Alice, Nadia, Alexander, the Albino Twins, and Ben all lived with me at some point in my life. They were as real as you or I. They walked the earth, they breathed the air, they played, they thought, they laughed and they cried. They have all the same thoughts and feelings as you or I.  They love, and they were deeply loved by me.

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As they are in the story, they were in real life, rats. Now before you get all squeamish, before you start to judge, let me set something straight in your head right now. Rats are people, they’re just people you haven’t met. My father used to have a saying it goes a little something like this  “There are two kinds of people. People that fly and people that don’t.” Very much the same is true about people, and rats. There are people that have had the wonderful pleasure of knowing a rat, and then there is everybody else.

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If you’re very lucky, and I hope and pray that you are, you will have the privilege to know and love a rat, too. Like us they; play, and laugh, run, and think. They love, and they long to be loved. They do and think everything you or I do or think. The only thing that separates us from them is… our prejudice.

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Because, you see, unlike us rats do not judge. They come in all different colors. They come in black, they come in white, they come in blonde, they come in brown, they come in blonde and white, they come in black and white. Yet, unlike us, no matter what color they are… they love each other like brothers. They do not judge based on the color of their fur.

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Unlike us rats love each other regardless of the color of their fur, regardless of the color of their eyes. Quite simply, regardless. My Dear Readers that is just the beginning of what rats have to teach us humans, and if you allow… you. Now let me leave you with words of caution, and please read what I say. Do not go out and pick up a rat, off the street, and try and make it to a friend! The rats that I speak of are bought at pet stores. They are called 'Fancy Rats' and they are of a very special breed.

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The very first time I had the pleasure of meeting a rat was my sophomore year in college. I was a liberal arts major, studying communications. In high school, I had great interest in science. Actually, until my first time on stage I thought I would go to college to study in a scientific field. In college I kept in touch with other friends that choose that discipline. One day, I was approached by one of those friends with a request for help.

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They had just finished a year of studying some odd thing, with the brains of rats. Long story short, she had a rat that they were done experimenting. They were going to put the rat down, but she had another idea. She brought me a rat, in a large bird cage, with wires still sticking out of his head. He was a large black rat, and he looked mostly unhappy. She told me that we would, likely, not live a year. It was just she wanted the rat to die naturally, and maybe get treated well before he died. He had given so much to her research, she had developed feelings. Fellings that he deserved better than just being put to sleep after her work was done.

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I told her that I would be happy to ‘help’, not fully knowing what I was getting myself into at the time. I took him into my home, yet it was my life that changed. At first he was very agitated, and did not want to be held or out of his cage. He would sit, sulking, on the bar in the cage. Like a small vulture, having a bad day. I spent time with him every day. Every day I talked to him. Every day I feed him some by hand, and tried to pet or hold him.

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After about a week, the most amazing thing happened. I had him out, and he was letting me hold him… without biting me. I stroked his body and his face. He closed his eyes and relaxed. Then I think he felt loved. I say this because he did something, interesting. At first it felt like he was purring, like a cat. I kept petting him and holding him close talking to him. When I felt he was comfortable, I shifted him in my hands and looked at his face. He was not purring, he was grinding his teeth.

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Unknown to me at the time, rats in the wild use their teeth to communicate to one another. Through a series of; grinding, gnashing and popping their teeth they can communicate. Now, when I was a boy my father taught me Morse Code. It is a language, used in early communication, where a series of dots and dashes (sent over wires using a simple contact device) used to communicate. Dot Dot Dot, Dash Dash Dash, Dot Dot Dot equals S.O.S. (Save Our Ship) known as an international call for help.

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About the time I realized that Benjamin’s (I named him Benjamin) grinding and gnashing was a pattern, I felt his back leg grip one of my fingers. I feared I had upset him… then I realized… Benjamin was hugging me!  They do that, rats will hug you when they feel love. As well, I did not know it then but later I realized that all  rats (when held, and loved), once they develop trust with you and then love. All of them… grind in the same pattern.

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Later in life I realized that this common grinding, gnashing pattern was my rats saying “I love you.” They often grab your finger and grip it tight, while grinding this same pattern. Now, they don’t all do it exactly the same way. Some pop their teeth louder, some grind longer and faster before gnashing then popping. However, each and every rat I have owned has eventually communicated in nearly the exact same pattern… while ‘Hugging’ a finger. Rats love, and rats can and do love humans. My Dear Readers, it was this realization that is the motivation for this book (hopefully series of books). If rats can love humans, and I can love rats. Then this story must be told. This book must be written.

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In my book, this book you now hold in your hands, you will learn of the many different kinds of rats. You will meet them all, and get to know how they are different and how they differ. Not all rats are smart. The Fancy Rats were breed to be; intelligent, social, loving, playful, and soulful. You cannot expect a rat that lives in the sewer to want to treat you as a friend. However, if after reading this book you would like to be as I? A man that knows and loves rats? Have your parents take you to a good pet store and purchase a Fancy rat, they will make a very good friend to you for years to come. If I have my way, and often I do, soon there will be a new pet rat for you to buy and love. They will be called the ‘D&A’ rats. These rats will be a very very special breed, created by me out of a deep sense of love for these wonderful loving beautiful furry friends.

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And now, with that all behind us and firmly in your mind, I would very much like for you to turn the next page and join me in ‘The Adventures of Princess Nadia’!

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As always I am deeply honored that you come here and read my work.

Thank you! &

ENJOY!

[caption id="attachment_1812" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Just a shot of a VERY thankful Danny in His Power Chair[/caption]