Sitting in his cubicle in the middle of the enormous open-space office, Charlie opened eBay.
He typed Stephen King signed in the search engine. Several results, but nothing he could afford. Clive Barker signed. Cheaper, but still too much. Bored, he selected the “Real Estate” category. Time to find something closer to the city centre, anyway. Not that he could afford to buy a flat, but he could always look. “Other Real Estate”. And then he sorted the results, starting from the ones ending soon.
One caught his eye.Kingdom of Shoreland. Ending in five minutes. Highest bid, 20$. He selected it.
Kingdom of Shoreland
Off the coast of England, by Norwich
3,168sq/m
Including all rights and duties of a monarch
“20 bucks? Must be a joke”, he muttered to himself. Still, he bid 30 dollars, then started refreshing the page.
He won the bid, for 25.50$. He paid straight away. PayPal, of course. Then he went back to his work spreadsheet.
Minutes later, his mobile rung. A number he didn’t know. He picked up.
“Hallo?”
“Hallo, my name is Mark Burrell. Mister Charles Vann?”
“Speaking”.
“Your limousine will be picking you up at your address tomorrow morning, 10am. You are booked on a flight to London Heathrow, take your passport. You’ll take ownership of Shoreland. The coronation ceremony will take place next Saturday. As the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, it is also my duty to let you know that you will have to shoulder the national debt. But don’t worry now, we’ll discuss it face to face. Long live King Charles I”.
IT: Nato e cresciuto a Padova, vive in un villaggio di 1500 anime sulla costa occidentale della Scozia dal 2004. Dopo varie esperienze come manager in diverse aziende, si è dedicato anima e corpo alla traduzione: tra le sue “vittime” annovera Victor Gischler, Allan Guthrie, Tony Black, Ray Banks, Mick Wall, Tim Willocks, Joe R. Lansdale (è solo un racconto ma vale lo stesso) e, dall’italiano all’inglese e con la collaborazione di Allan Guthrie, Matteo Strukul. È stato l’interprete ufficiale del secondo e del terzo festival Sugarpulp. Il suo debutto come autore è una novella scritta a quattro mani con lo stesso Strukul, “Trovate Skuld! Chimera: squadra anti nazi”, pubblicata in eBook nel 2013 da LA CASE books. È un membro (molto poco attivo) del Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle, e nel tempo libero legge birre e beve libri su YouTube. Inoltre, suona il basso con i Mojo Dodge.
EN: Born and bred in Padova, he lives since 2004 in a village on the west coast of Scotland. After working as a manager for several companies, he dedicated himself, body and soul, to the translation business. Amongst his “victims” are Victor Gischler, Allan Guthrie, Tony Black, Ray Banks, Mick Wall, Tim Willocks, Joe R. Lansdale (only a short story, but it still counts) and, with the precious help of Allan Guthrie, Matteo Strukul. He was the official interpreter in the second and third Sugarpulp festival. His debut as an author is a novella he co-wrote with Strukul, “Find Skuld! Chimaera: Anti-Nazi Squad”, published as an eBook in 2013 by LA CASE books. He’s a (not very active) member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle, and in his spare time he reads beer and drinks books on YouTube. He also plays bass with Mojo Dodge.
