Okay, this is how it all came about. I had this dream, and in it I was involved with this wildly successful e-magazine called The Divine Reader. I mean, world leaders were reading it, it was getting reviews from newspapers and magazines ranging from the New York Times to Rolling Stone, and most important, David Letterman was making fun of it.

When I woke up the next morning I thought it was a fairly interesting dream, but I was mystified as to the meaning of Divine Reader. I immediately went to the internet to see if there was anything remotely close to a Divine Reader, but I was unable to find anything of that description. But after all, I thought as I began to wake up, the term didn't even make sense. SouthernReader, however, did. I've always been fascinated by all things Southern, and as for Reader, I still have fond memories of my Little Red Reader, not to mention my Weekly Reader. So maybe that's where my dream was directing me.

Now, understand, I'm not one that believes that our waking life is directed by dreams, or for that matter, visions from the netherworld, but I have had a few dreams in which I was undertaking some task only to awaken and continue (or restart) the task and take it to completion. (I also went through a phase of flying in my dreams when I wanted to escape enemy soldiers or see exactly what was on the roof of my elementary school, but that's quite another issue for another issue.)

When I was a senior in college, I was trying desperately to complete the required number of illustrations for a mixed-media course I was taking, and I was quickly running out of time and inspiration, so one night I decided that I would not go to bed until I came up with something worth working on. At some point I drifted off to sleep and began to dream that I was a senior in college, and I was trying desperately to complete the required number of illustrations for a mixed-media course I was taking, and I was quickly running out of time and inspiration. I thought and sketched for awhile, then all of a sudden, a brilliant idea began to manifest itself. It took me all night to complete it, but when it was finished, it was the most incredible piece of art I had ever created. Not only that, world leaders were wanting to buy it, it got reviews from newspapers and magazines ranging from the New York Times to Rolling Stone, and most important, Johnny Carson was making fun of it.

Then, I woke up.

My deadline was still there, but unfortunately, my stunning piece of art wasn't. But, I did remember the concept, so I started the long task of re-creating the piece of art. It took a couple of days, and once it was finished, no world leaders or art critics beat a path to my door. What's more, it wasn't even the best piece of art I had ever done. It was, however, one of the oddest.

It was a black-and-white, pen-and-ink drawing of a gunslinger framed by a shiny circle, as if you were looking at him from inside a silver gun barrel. The gunslinger had his gun in his hand, but the barrel of his gun had yet to clear the housing of its holster. The look on his face was the mixture of fear and surprise that can only be possessed by someone who only has a split second to live. On the ground in front of him was the elongated shadow of the opposing gunslinger. The vantage point was that of the bullet which had already begun its trip which would take it through the barrel of the victor's gun and, momentarily, into the slower gunslinger's heart. To this day, I don't understand what it all meant, but it did earn me an A, if not for execution, at least for abnormality.

And so, here we go again all these years later with the culmination of yet another dream. I hope that you'll enjoy this one with me, and if you do, you'll pass the link on to a friend. It has certainly taken quite a bit longer to complete than the "You Are The Bullet" piece of art, and hopefully, it's a bit less abnormal. But aside from all the fun of putting this premiere issue together, I suppose the main reason I plowed ahead with it was I simply couldn't think of any reason not to. Welcome to the dream.

dskinner@SouthernReader.com
Big Chicken a short story by David Ray Skinner
A sad, but slightly off-kilter tale about an unusual bird and the havoc he wreaked from Tennessee to New York City.

Loosening the Bible Belt a memoir by K. Ralph Devereaux
One of the fondest memories of those who grew up Methodist in the South was Camp Meeting Days.

The Rising Popularity of Biscuits a food commentary by Nelda Hill
Often ignored, the lowly biscuit has marked both the daily and the occasional events in this writer’s life.
SouthernReader is an e-publication with all rights reserved. SouthernReader reserves the right to reject or approve all advertisements. The ads that appear in SouthernReader do not constitute an endorsement for products and services as advertised. Ads and articles can be submitted by email to David Ray Skinner at dskinner@SouthernReader.com. Letters can be sent to SouthernReader, Post Office Box 1314, Norcross, GA 30091-1314. We can be reached by phone @ 404.840.7450. All contents are ©2005 SouthernReader and David Ray Skinner.

©Copyright 2005 David Ray Skinner/SouthernReader. All rights reserved.