Hadrian’s Lover
Patricia Marie Budd
Dedications
This book is dedicated to all my LGBT students past, present, and future. I am here for you. I always have been and always will be.
Joseph, I love you! You will always be my Grecian poet.
Wilf, you inspired me! You are not forgotten!
October 6 – 12, 1998
The world must NEVER FORGET what happened to Matthew Wayne Shepard!
Reviews
Editor’s Choice for September, 2013, So So Gay, London, UK
Five Star Review “Beautiful, heart-wrenchingly poignant, and brilliantly conceived” Jake Basford, So So Gay, London, UK
“Hadrian’s Lover inspires internal debate and thought. As a text in a high school classroom it would do wonders and possibly change the world.” Drew Rowsome, My Gay Toronto
Acknowledgments
Many thanks go to:
Christine Marie Scott, Bartley P. Busse, and James Duncan: my initial editing team! You helped me shape my vision!
Monty Henstridge for providing legal advice for all court scenes.
Brendan Toner for providing military intelligence.
Joanne Skilnick for helping me better understand our country’s natural resources, global warming, and the future ecological health of our planet.
Christine Marie Scott, Bartely P. Busse, Kimerica Parr, and Tara Nahamko for their endorsement of my work.
Tyler Tichelaar for his professional editing services acquired through ReaderViews.
WARNING!
This is a novel about sexual awakenings and sexual discrimination. You will be reading some sexually explicit material. Two thirteen year old boys begin sexual experimentation; a fifteen year old boy is caught masturbating; a sixteen year old boy wants his boyfriend to have sex; a seventeen year old boy and girl have sex; and a married male couple have sex on more than one occasion. If this warning offends you put the book back on the shelf, do not buy it, do not read it. The odds are you aren’t ready to handle the truth. And yet, ironically enough, you are the reason why this book had to be written!
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Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Reviews
Acknowledgments
Warning!
Prologue: Crystal’s Report
New Year’s Eve
A New Year’s Kiss
Illicit Communication
Images of Crystal
Sweet Sixteen!
Spring Fever
Good News!
Apocalyptic Nightmare
Dating Devon
Rezu
Hadrian’s Zoo
Summer Craze
Back to School
Second Anniversary
Study Date
Enter the Vixen
T’Neal
Hiding
B-ball
Family Dinner
Antinous Wants You!
Exposure
Taming the Strai
The Principal’s Office
Interview with Salve!
Het-Row
Warith vs. Weller
Indoctrination
Gideon’s Obsession
Quelling Dissension
Private Session
“to die, to sleep no more”
Extracting a Confession
Todd Awakes
Heart to Heart
A Controversial Lesson
Making Amends
A Private Meeting
Transcripts: Hadrian vs. Hunter
Defense Questioning of Geneticist Avery Gillis
Prosecution questioning of Gideon Weller
Prosecution Questioning of Dean Stuttgart
Defense Questioning of Ms. Destiny Stuttgart
Defense Questioning of Darrell Jeffreys, Warden’s Personal Assistant
An Unprecedented Sentence
Love Recovers
Hadrian’s Wall
Bibliography
Copyright
Prologue: Crystal’s Report
A Treatise Validating Hadrian’s Sexual Preference and Method of Procreation
by Crystal Albright
submitted to: Ms. Sterne
Homosexuality is the sexual norm in Hadrian while all forms of heterosexual behavior are illegal. Hadrian’s citizens have chosen a homosexual lifestyle side-by-side with in vitro fertilization, to create a stable human population within the confines of our borders. It had been determined by the founding families—and is approved every decade, on our country’s day of birth by our citizens through a referendum—that Hadrian’s population shall never exceed ten million.
Our small country was founded three generations ago. My great-grandmother, Ester Stiles, was among the first families to buy land in the Hudson Bay region of Northern Manitoba with the express purpose of creating a safe and stable home for homosexuals as well as a rigidly monitored and controlled human population. For this luxurious lifestyle, we have the five founding families to thank: Stiles, Stuttgart, Birtwistle, Nasser, and Reznikoff. It was they who, in the early years of Canada’s decline, purchased the land of our good country. It was they who established the cornerstones of Hadrian’s constitution: that Hadrian’s chosen lifestyle is homosexual; that Hadrian will be a safe haven for homosexuals from around the globe; that Hadrian’s central focus is the creation and maintenance of a stable human population; that Hadrian will create an ecologically sound balance between humanity and nature. The key focuses of this treatise are the cornerstones reflecting Hadrian’s sexual preference and the stabilization of the human population without which humanity will most certainly decline as surely as the Roman Empire did.
As late as the twentieth century, it was reasonable, perhaps even essential, that humans should prefer heterosexuality as the sexual norm. Heterosexual sex is designed specifically for procreation. Humanity no longer requires such methods, yet the multitudes outside Hadrian’s walls are still reproducing at an astronomical rate. Outside Hadrian’s walls, close to twenty billion people are overpopulating this planet—nearly twenty billion people are starving and suffering from uncountable syndromes as a result. Millions of these people resorting to cannibalism just to survive! (Salve!, HNN—Melissa Eagleton Reporting, June 2, 21—). These poor unfortunates are forced to live in close quarters spreading disease at a rampant rate. Humanity has overrun the planet like a virus killing all of nature in its path. What food is available to these people is scarce. What medicines limited. Little space lies beyond our walls for farms to grow food and raise livestock. Hadrian, on the other hand, is self-sustaining. We have farms. We grow our own food. We raise fowl. We maintain freshwater fisheries. We house seawater fishery farms. Our people are fed. Our surplus stock accounts for 14 percent of Hadrian’s economic wealth as we export what we do not need to those in dire need. We have, in every sense of the word, created a utopia here in Hadrian.
Sometimes our citizens question why, if we are so adamant against heterosexuality, do we not simply allow these people to immigrate to other countries where their lifestyle is not only acceptable but also preferable? The answer to that question should be obvious. These are our children. We do not simply dismiss them—toss them into a torrent ocean of human disease, debris, and decay. Our love for our offspring does not permit us to act in so selfish and irresponsible a manner. Besides, no one born in Hadrian is a pure heterosexual.
One of Hadrian’s greatest advances, truly a leap in medical science, has been its work on the human genome project. In the past fifty years, our genetic scientists believe they have identified those chromosomes within our DNA that indicate a strong disposition toward homosexuality. Although the human animal is by nature a creature t
hat needs to procreate, nature has also established its own checks and balances to overpopulation by ensuring some aspects of human DNA lean toward homosexual behavior. Hadrian’s scientists, who have worked to increase that component of our DNA, are believed to have successfully eradicated the pure heterosexual gene from Hadrian’s genetic database. Our geneticists scan each and every embryo to determine whether the homosexual gene exists before implanting it into a woman’s womb. If no signs of homosexuality are present in the embryo’s DNA, it is automatically destroyed. Thus, our geneticists ensure that every citizen born in Hadrian is homosexual (Doctoro, Hadrian’s Human Genome Project, page 882).
Here in Hadrian, we ascribe to the Kinsey scale. According to Alfred C. Kinsey (Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, page 638) human sexual preference can be divided into a scale from zero to six. A zero on this scale is said to be 100 percent heterosexual whereas a six is considered pure homosexual. The gradations between show individuals leaning more or less toward either side. Societies outside Hadrian’s walls have always elected to accept the leaning toward heterosexual behavior purely for the means of reproduction. Religion has both fostered and festered the “procreation fact” as the foundation for heterosexuality as the pure and natural sexual norm. Yet this choice has not served humanity well. Our small planet simply cannot sustain the burden of human population placed upon it. Our founding families recognized the futility of heterosexual preference and excessive procreation. Thus, upon foundation of our good country, the first article of justice states the need to enhance and nurture human homosexual tendencies as well as create strict procreation laws.
With modern medical advances, our geneticists boast having reduced the Kinsey scale by two points (Billington, The Homosexual Gene, page 32). Although our geneticists are, as yet, unable to distinguish between each of the gradations of Kinsey’s behavioral scale, they are confident enough to pronounce that no more zeros or ones exist among any of Hadrian’s citizens. Every child born into Hadrian society in the last twelve years is, at the very least, a two on the Kinsey scale. We do not deny that a two still has a stronger leaning toward heterosexual behavior; however, inside every two is a latent homosexual. It is our job as citizens of Hadrian to help these individuals release and embrace their true, and socially acceptable, inner desires. Until the day when our scientists have created the perfect human genome, where all who are born will be sixes, we must forever work with our children, reminding them why our country was founded and the critical need to maintain a stable human population.
For this reason, reeducation camps were formed: Not to harm and abuse our citizens but to remind our youth of our country’s founding families’ ideals and the necessity of maintaining strict vigilance. Many of today’s youth are unaware of our early immigration policy. In the beginning, Hadrian’s borders were open to immigrants, inviting homosexuals from around the world to join us. Many people swarmed to our gates, and not all of these people were homosexual. In fact, a large number, at least 15 percent, were people who believed themselves to be a one or two on the Kinsey scale. Two individuals who joined us, Mark and Julie Reiner, a pure heterosexual couple, agreed to sterilization in order to be part of our preferred community. Neither had wanted children anyway, viewing procreation in an overpopulated world as immoral. They also agreed to permanent separation, each locating to opposite ends of the country. They knew when they immigrated to Hadrian that they were entering a homosexual community, a community dedicated to restraining the human population growth, a country dedicated to putting into place the necessary checks and balances to create a stable human population. These noble people chose to deny their heterosexual tendencies, accepting celibacy in its place, for the sake of Hadrian’s future, for the sake of humanity. All of Hadrian’s citizens are asked to make such sacrifices, if indeed, one perceives being who we are as a sacrifice at all!
Perhaps the greatest sacrifice made by any Hadrian citizen is that of the surrogate goddess. These women open up their wombs, choosing to be the mothers of our men’s children. Without these women, our homosexual men would be bereft of the benefits of rearing many of Hadrian’s children. No wonder these women are treated like goddesses in our world. In fact, it is the expressed desire of this author to become a revered surrogate goddess.
It is also important to remind our youth that Hadrian’s first citizens swore an oath of fidelity to our founding principles. Although our children are not required to swear this oath until coming of age (twenty-one), it is expected of all Hadrian’s citizens to raise their children with a clear understanding of not only the world inside our walls, but of the dangerous world that surrounds us. That dangerous world batters against our walls daily as a reminder. Heterosexual barbarians are constantly threatening to overtake our country. Hadrian’s ballistic missile detection and tracking system is state of the art. It is terrifying to learn how many incoming missiles our military has protected us from. A virtual wasteland lies outside our walls where many of our intercept missiles have detonated those threats (Dodger, The Military Sciences, page 182). Although conscription of our youth into Hadrian’s military between eighteen and twenty-two years of age is undesirable, it is undeniably essential; we must defend Hadrian’s way of life at all costs.
The worst attack against our peoples occurred a mere eight years ago when an Evangelical Christian drove across our border, exploding a dirty nuclear device in Augustus City. The loss of Quadrant One’s southern grassland region and the devastation to our populace was the final straw that drove our people into exile from the outside world. No more are tourists from other countries allowed to visit our fair and spacious country. Although we retain fair trade with friendly countries through export and import, we no longer believe outsiders can be trusted to cross over our borders (Miller, The Resurgence of the Law, page 42).
Hadrian’s population must remain xenophobic. We cannot allow the ravages of disease to infect the only stable human population. Annually, hundreds of millions of outsiders die of disease and starvation; yet those numbers never seem to impact the ever-growing population. We, in Hadrian, will never send our children to live out there with them. No, it is much kinder, much safer to our wayward youth to be reclaimed through reeducation. Although some of our youth may believe themselves to be heterosexual, it is incumbent upon us to help them understand what it means to be a two on the Kinsey scale and help them awaken and embrace their latent homosexuality.
Hadrian is the savior of humanity. While the rest of the world procreates itself into excessive human waste and decay, our small population will live on. Hadrian’s values ensure the human race will survive.
Salve!
December 31, 21___—11:53 PM
Hadrian’s National News (HNN)—Melissa Eagleton Reporting
As the clock counts down, Hadrian’s citizens await the very moment we can all shout gaily, “Happy New Year and Happy Fiftieth Birthday, Hadrian!” It is hard to believe that we have made it this far! Fifty years of gay freedom! Fifty years of a stable human population—maintaining ten million! Fifty years of showing the rest of the world how man and nature can commune as one. Considering all the trials and tribulations Hadrian has been through since we first established our borders, it is truly amazing we have come this far. The wall surrounding our borders is now one third complete, stretching for hundreds of miles on each side of the southeast and southwest gates.
This is it, folks; in less than seven minutes, when the chimes ring in the New Year, we will all shout out with joy, for Hadrian is the only country left standing between humanity and certain death—for without Hadrian, the human race would invariably become extinct! As we look outside our walls and daily witness man’s decay, although we are saddened by their sufferings and daily losses, their decline is a reminder of the value and importance of Hadrian’s society. Overpopulation is the planet killer. Overpopulation is man’s deadliest enemy. Homosexuality, population stability, communing with the earth (that small portion of which we have saved wi
thin the confines of our walls): these are Hadrian’s gifts to the future. Our scientists estimate that the dregs of the human race will wipe themselves out in the next fifty to one hundred years. But Hadrian will remain! Hadrian will fight for humanity’s survival.
Before the clock strikes that magic hour, let us take a moment to remember Hadrian’s soldiers, those brave men and women who patrol our borders and guard our wall from the outside world, and the endless attacks against our civilization by the heterosexual barbarians and religious fanatics Every year, we mourn the loss of another soldier dying to preserve our rights and freedoms. Every year, a grieving mother or father buries her or his only child. No one goes to the wall with illusions. To serve at the wall is to face certain death on a daily basis. To serve at the wall is to be in a constant state of readiness to repel desperate attacks by illegal immigrants threatening to swarm over our borders, threatening to infect us with any one of their endless plagues. To serve at the wall means to battle with organized armed forces determined to steal our land and destroy what little remains of the earth’s habitable land. To serve at the wall means to face the threat of religious terrorists who deem our chosen lifestyle as the devil’s menace. Our young men and women conscripted into our forces, who serve four years of their lives between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two, are our protectors and saviors from the outside world. Before the countdown begins, let us hold our traditional vigilance—one minute of silence for those of us who cannot enjoy this night’s revels—one minute of silence for those of us who may, at any moment, die while defending our very way of life and the right to celebrate the way we do tonight. One minute of silence and then one minute of bated anticipation to the final countdown. And then together, we will shout for joy our Happiest of New Years, for this year as we celebrate the fiftieth year of our country’s birth, we are also celebrating the rebirth of mankind!
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