About the Book:
Long ago, the guinea pig race lived together in a city on the coast. But when a storm came from the sea, that way of life ended. Now a nomadic culture, they’ve become experts at finding the best places to live, gather, and thrive. They follow their curiosity to find new lands each season, and those wanderings bring them to an area of rich farmland too enticing to ever leave. They call it Guiniloupay. A few years after they build their new settlement, strangers-a band of penguins from the east-come to their fields with dire news. The penguins have been driven from their home and need help and refuge. Fearing the worst, the guinea pigs form an alliance with the penguins, naming their leader, King Penjay, ruler of Guiniloupay. Soon after the alliance is formed between the two races, a new era of prosperity begins. Guiniloupay starts to expand, and word soon spreads. It is only a matter of time before the good news of their success inspires jealousy and fear in others, including the warlike Mouse Empire in the West. Emperor Bandit calls for the immediate destruction of Guiniloupay, sending five thousand of his most viscous mouse knights to attack the penguins and guinea pigs. For two years, the enslaved residents of Guiniloupay labor to rebuild their former home to suit the whims of their new emperor. But the time is coming soon when they will rise up to defend their home and way of life. Joseph Brown’s Through the Ages of Guiniloupay began as a short story he wrote with a friend in sixth grade. Throughout the years, he expanded the stories into a five-book series. He grew up in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, and is currently serving in the US Air Force.
Read an Excerpt:
Featured in June/July 2016 Issue: Short Stories
Buc led his guinea pigs southeast through the tall grasses. He looked around everywhere in front of him, only seeing the tall grass dancing in the wind. He then looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was directly above them.
“The air gets hotter every day,” he said to himself. He looked back at his clan and saw everyone slowing down in the heat. “We need to find some shade or food.”
Buc continued looking around the fields in front of him before he heard someone shout behind him.
“Look! There’s corn!” the voice shouted.
Buc looked back and saw everyone looking and pointing to their left. When he looked in the direction, he saw a small field of tall stalks of corn standing above the grass. He started walking toward the stalks as the rest of the clan ran around him and into the field. The guinea pigs started pulling the corn off the stalks.
“I can’t wait to eat this corn,” said a female as she picked an ear of corn from a stalk.
“Oh, I know. My young’ns love boiled corn,” said another female.
Buc walked up to the edge of the field and looked at the smiles on everyone’s faces as they filled their baskets and bags with corn. A younger, white guinea pig ran toward Buc with a couple ears of corn.
“Here, Buc, these are for you!” the young’n said.
Buc smiled at the little one.
“Thank you, young’n,” he said, taking the corn.
“I’ll be back with some more!” the young’n said before he ran back off.
Buc dropped the corn into his bag that hung from his side and watched the little one run back into the field.
“Everyone!” he shouted. “Let’s gather these ears quickly so we can keep moving!”
The guinea pigs pulled the ears of corn off the stalks as fast as they could. After three hours they had the field cleared and all of the stalks knocked down.
Buc stood in the tall grass in the heat of the sun and waited for everyone to pick their huts and bags up. Once everyone was ready, they continued into the east.