Little Big Man

A Note from the Author:

Should you read this story? Let me tell you about it and you decide.

If you're looking for quick gratification, this is not the story for you. If you like long, structured stories with characters and a plot – and a strong authoritarian bent – it just might be. It's actually a full novel; I've finished the first draft, but I'll post it serially as I review and revise each chapter.

"Little Big Man" (no relation to the movie of that name) is the tale of a young man coming to terms with who he really is. It's both an adventure story and a love story – a tricky thing to pull off, but I'll give it my best shot. There are over a hundred characters, but only a few main ones, and it's easy to keep them (you'll pardon the expression) straight.

With its emphasis on plot, character, and relationships, I am confident that it is within the spirit of Nifty's guidelines. In the interests of transparency, however, I feel obligated to disclose that much of the story unfolds within the framework of a system of slavery in which the owner has absolute power – including the right to geld or even terminate his slave. A small number of characters meet these fates, usually (but not always) off the page. I assure you that these are minor elements of the plot, included for story-telling purposes to generate an atmosphere of anxiety for the protagonist; anxiety cannot be credible if the threat is not real. They were NOT designed to appeal to anyone's sick fantasies or promote arousal. But if their presence, even minimally, bothers you, perhaps you should go on to something else.

Two additional comments:

1. Major portions of this story take place in Russia. I developed this story well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine; were I beginning it now, I would have set it elsewhere.

2. There will be plenty of sex, but not in the initial chapters; be patient.

I hope you decide to read it, and I hope you like it.

• Travis Creel

PROLOGUE: Friday, October 14 – St. Petersburg, Russia

• The story of my life? You want me to write the story of my life? - Yes. - I don't think I could – it would take months to – - Just – what is word – relevant. Just relevant parts. - The relevant parts. - When your life began. - Only since birth, then. I can leave out the part in the womb? - Careful, Alexei. I said you could speak freely, but are limits. Am talking about when your life REALLY began. - You mean the contest. - Is not that when your life really began? - . . . - I tell you, you can speak with freedom. - I don't think of it that way, Master. My life is more than these past few months. I have a history. I have a family. I have friends from high school and college. I have – - Do you? How is family? How are friend from high school and college? When are you see them next? - . . . - Alexei, do they matter at all now? - . . . - Tears are unmanly. Get rid of them. - I'm sorry, Master. I just – still have trouble sometimes accepting – - Is why you need to write story. Here's what I want you do. Write story in form of diary – not as if you looking back now, months later. As if happening very same day. - As if - ? - Have you watch American TV program Big Brother? - You know I have. It was on my questionnaire. - On Big Brother they go into diary room and talk about competition – competition over, so they know result. But they tell it like it still going on, like they don't know result. So when audience watch, audience don't know result. You remember that? - Yes. - That what I want you do. Don't just tell what happen, tell what you thinking when it happen. Like you don't know what happen later. - I understand. - Concentrate on moment that produce emotion: Hope, despair, confusion, anger, joy, fear – all emotion. Above all, make honest. Do not – how you say, coat the sugar. Do not write for me, what you think I want to hear. Write truth – your truth, Alexei truth. If you are less than honest . . . this is place we don't want to go. - When should I start from? When I arrived here? Or earlier, like June 6th? That was the day that changed everything. - That was maybe most drama date, but story begin when you apply for contest, yes? - Yes. - Start with first email. - March first. I remember that date. I'll always remember that date. - Good. By tomorrow write what happen in month of March. - Will I have time? I have work to do. - I speak to Grigory. You have time. - One other thing – do I have to call myself Alexei? - What wrong with Alexei? You prefer maybe Igor or Marat? - No, Igor reminds me of Frankenstein. And Marat was that guy who got stabbed in a bathtub in the French Revolution. Alexei's okay, I guess. But it's Russian. I'm not Russian. - You should be please I give you Russian name. Jackson never earn. - That's not the point. - What is point? - The point is that my name is not Alexei. It's Alex. - Are you question my right to give you name? - No, no, of course not, Master. But you're asking me to write my truth and you're asking me to write about my past. On March first, my name was Alex. - . . . - Master? - (Pause.) I allow. Call yourself Alex. - Thank you, Master. - When talking about past. Only. - I understand, Master. Thank you, Master.

FLASHFORWARD: SATURDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER, THE FOLLOWING YEAR – St. Petersburg, Russia

Horst:

You are aware that I had Alexei write an account of his journey, which he began to write last October, and you have expressed interest in reading it. I have waited until now to release it because some of the main issues were resolved only recently. Jakko has also expressed interest in reading it, and thinks I may be able to market it within IAMSO.

Because Alexei has only part of the story, I have supplemented it in places with my own account, including some things he didn't know at the time. He is not aware that I have done this. Alexei, of course, wrote in English. I know neither you nor Jakko is fluent in Russian, but my English is very rough, so I wrote in Russian and had my assistant Oleg translate it. I will allow Alexei to present my dialogue as he perceives it, but when I am the narrator, Oleg will smooth it over, so you don't have to suffer through my bad grammar.

I wish you many happy hours reading it. See you at the convention, if not before.

Dmitri (translated by Oleg Valenskiy)

P.S. Here is a table of contents. Oleg came up with the titles.

BOOK ONE: THE ROAD TO SLAVERY

01 – APPLICATION 02 – ACCEPTED! 03 – THE STATE CONTEST 04 – MAY 05 – ON THE BOAT 06 – LET THE GAMES BEGIN 07 – D-DAY 08 – THE SEX PERIOD 09 – TOPS AND BOTTOMS 10 – AN UNCOOPERATIVE GUEST 11 – SEX GAMES ONE: WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? 12 – SEX GAMES TWO: WHO THE FUCK IS THIS? 13 – SEX GAMES THREE: HAVE I FUCKED YOU ALREADY? 14 – DEMOTIONS 15 – THE SPANKING CONTEST 16 – PORT OF CALL 17 – HEADING SOUTH 18 – RPS 19 – A CAMPAIGN BEGINS 20 – A MORNING OF SURPRISES 21 – ENTER A V.I.P. 22 – A QUITE INTERESTING DINNER HOUR 23 – THE FINAL COMPETITION 24 – IRREVERSIBLE LOSSES 25 – NOW WHAT? 26 – WHAT, NOW? 27 – AFTERNOON DELIGHT, AFTERNOON DESPAIR 28 – CHECKING OUT THE STOCK 29 – TO MARKET, TO MARKET

BOOK TWO: A WHOLE NEW LIFE

30 – MEET YOUR MASTER 31 – THIS IS YOUR LIFE, BOY 32 – TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A SLAVE 33 – GETTING TO KNOW YOU 34 – LIVE FROM ST. PETERSBURG, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT! 35 – THE DOORBELL RINGS 36 – WRITING ASSIGNMENT 37 – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 38 – WHILE THE CAT'S AWAY 39 – A PROMISE KEPT 40 – SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES 41 – AN UNCONVENTIONAL CONVENTION 42 – GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY 43 – TWO ASSEMBLIES 44 – AT THE ROYAL PALACE 45 – UP ON THE ROOF 46 – THE SWIMMING POOL 47 – NIKOLAI 48 – THE WRONG MAN 49 – A TRAP IS SPRUNG 50 – A PARTY WITHOUT ALEXEI 51 – A PARTY WITHOUT DMITRI 52 – REASSESSING RELATIONSHIPS

BOOK THREE: THERE'LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE

53 – PRACTICUM 54 – OF PRINCES AND SLAVES 55 – TINKER, TAILOR, SLAVEBOY, SPY 56 – ZEROING IN 57 – HAPPY NEW YEAR 58 – BACK TO THE PALACE 59 – REMATCH 60 – UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT 61 – THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT 62 – SO HERE'S THE PLAN 63 – CHAOS 64 – FULL HOUSE 65 – THE LIE DETECTOR 66 – FATHER VERSUS SON 67 – SHOWDOWN 68 – OUT OF THE HOUSE 69 – LITTLE BIG MAN REDUX 70 – JAVIER 71 – WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE SLAVES? 72 – ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

[Author's Note: okay, that's a lot of chapters - like I said, it's a novel. But it's shorter than Tolstoy! And the plot has some twists and turns in it that surprised even me. Onward! – T. Creel]