The Temple Of The Blue Dog

Today in many west European societies there is a growing sense of panic, of some ill-defined feeling of conflict. This sense of foreboding is really the acute dissonance between the traditional ideals of western liberalism and the more militant demands of a strident religious dogma. It is this cultural tension that lies behind my story The Temple Of The Blue Dog. It is set at some unspecified future date in the UK, when a new, highly misogynistic religion has become the dominant, legal force in society. The narrative consists of two stories which run consecutively. One involves a father from the caste of Untouchables who is desperately seeking medical help for his gifted daughter Rosie. The other story is about Susan, an open-minded young woman who decides to leave the city but who slowly becomes ensnared by the new restrictions imposed on females. Both stories run in alternating sections of about 2 pages each, eventually merging into a single narrative in the closing pages. WARNING: the story contains content that some readers may find disturbing and objectionable.