Comparisons to Stephen King's The Stand

(3 posts today - see "Day 8" and "The iPod in my Head" below)

The Stand is one of my favorite novels, and to me, is one of Stephen King's scariest because the initial premise is a realistic one instead of a nightmarish fantasy. A superflu virus created by the military escapes and kills 99% of the human population, leaving behind only the few who are naturally immune.

While there is no apocalyptic plague in my story, I have found myself reminded of The Stand more than once on my journey. The first time was as I was riding through the fields of western Illinois, eastern Iowa, southern Minnesota, and all of South Dakota. There were stretches where I didn't see a soul or another moving vehicle for long stretches of time, and I thought that must be what it was like for the survivors of the plague as they traveled across the country to the "good people" camp in Boulder, CO or the "bad people" camp in Las Vegas, NV.

In the novel and also in the movie (with Gary Sinise, Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Ray Walston, Laura San Giacomo, Jamey Sheridan, Miguel Ferrer, Ruby Dee, and Ossie Davis), the "good" were initially drawn by dreams of Mother Abigail to Hemingford Home, Nebraska, where they gathered for the trek west to Boulder. A sign for Hemingford in Nebraska brought me back to the story again, as did several large crows, into which Jamey Sheridan's devil character turned in order to spy on the travelers.

And finally, here I am in Colorado, not far from Boulder. With the good people, my dad and stepmom, my brother and sister-in-law, my nephew, and all of my sister-in-law's family. Hopefully there will be no references to the "bad" on this trip. But I do think I will have to re-read The Stand when i get back home.