The Quixotics
By John Wayne Falbey
The Quixotics is a tale of coming of age for the Baby Boomer generation. The time is 1970 and three young men have returned from military service in Vietnam. Like other returning warriors of that era, they’ve become disenchanted with a country that no longer feels comfortable or welcoming to them. Restless and troubled by what they see as the loss of individuality in an increasingly politically correct society, they decide to escape it and create an environment more to their liking. They are modern versions of that classic daydreamer, Don Quixote. But, where the venerable nobleman was weak and spindly, these men are young, powerful, and well trained in the killing arts.
They pool what little cash they have and acquire a boat that is barely seaworthy. The plan is to sail leisurely through the Caribbean, living life on their own terms one idyllic day at a time, determined to find adventure and right the wrongs they find along the way. Combative with society and each other and with no sailing or navigational skills, they set off in the small, cramped boat.
To earn some badly needed cash, they grudgingly agree to deliver a cargo of weapons to anti-Castro insurgents in Cuba. The start is rough and the voyage rougher, but all hell breaks loose once they reach the island. Captured by Castro forces, they’re imprisoned and tortured in an old Spanish dungeon. Later, they escape and join up with the rebels in the Sierra Maestra Mountains. Here, their talents for guerilla warfare, honed in the jungles of Vietnam, assert themselves.
Before this tale of adventure, romance, and self-discovery is over, each man will come to realize, as Cervantes said, “Our greatest foes, and whom we must chiefly combat, are withinâ€.
You can purchase the book online from Smashwords in multiple eBook formats at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/245459.
eBook formatting by Shelley Glasow Schadowsky.