Tom Greensmith

Franky Fly's Away from Home: a Short Book About a Long Life Tom Greensmith 1st edition

To paraphrase the tag line for the movie Braveheart ? ?Every fly dies. Not every fly really lives.? These words form the premise of this book for children and adults alike. The title of the book is: Franky Fly?s Away From Home The subtitle is: A Short Book About a Long Life This book looks at the adult themes of moving away from home, exploring and relishing the unknown, and conquering fear. While the themes are rather weighty, the writing is gentle in tone and whimsical in nature. Franky Fly is one of 73 children born to Fernando and Fredericka Fly one warm summer morning in Kissimmee, Florida. Along with his brothers and sisters, Franky is born as an egg. After 24 hours, he hatches into larva, then spends four days as a pupa before becoming an adult housefly. After all of Franky?s siblings emerge from the pupal case and start to dry their wings in the warm sun, Fernando speaks to his new children and wishes them a long and happy life. ?Of course,? he adds, ?the average lifespan of a fly in summer is around 21 days.? While his siblings are content to spend their lives around the same trash container at the Motel 6 in Kissimmee, Franky is not. During his first flight he landed on a map of the United States and realized how big the world must be. He wants to see as much of the country as he can and experience everything he can before his time in the world ends. So Franky packs a small bag, says goodbye to his family and heads off for Orlando Airport. In his travels, Franky visits many places, including Atlanta, Boston, New York, Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Denver, Santa Fe and Las Vegas. He sees a lot of sights, makes some good friends, and has many happy adventures. As the book ends, Franky - now 20 days old - hops a plane to San Francisco. He will beat the odds, he thinks, because he has dreams to making it to Anchorage, Honolulu and far beyond. ?Following your dreams,? he says, ?is the only way to live.?