Yak Laughter is an ongoing web-serialized fantasy novel written and read by Coram Parker. The podcast is produced by Canon Parker. Read the full text now on yaklaughter.com.

SYNOPSIS

Ezmeralda Totkins leads an ordinary life—right up until the day her seven-year-old son, Wilburn, discovers magic, nearly killing himself in the process, and accidentally provoking the wrath of a swarm of giant psychic hornets, who descend upon Ez's cottage like a crusading army, hell-bent on murdering the boy. In the time it takes a pot of soup to cook, both Ez's cottage and her understanding of reality are demolished.

I won't tell you how Ez and Wilburn get out of that scrape; they do, of course, or else the story would be over. And it's only just begun. Magic, Ez learns, is a hereditary talent. Well, Wilburn didn't get it from her. Jack, Ez's late love, the father Wilburn never met, was a wizard. Ez never knew. She never guessed magic was real, much less that Jack himself...

How could the person Ez had trusted beyond all others have kept such a profound secret from her? A secret not only about himself, but the fundamental nature of the universe? If only Jack was still alive so she could ask him... and possibly kick him in the groin.

Instead, Ez must rely on Gramma Fark, Jack's mother, Ez's NOT-mother-in-law, for answers, answers to questions like, "How did jack REALLY die?" and, "Is some kind of evil hornet god controlling my son's mind?"

And, gentle reader, just wait until you meet Master Iddolorious "Iddo" Bungflower of Frogswallow's College of Metaphysical Arts. All Iddo wants to do is drink beer and write million-page dissertations on "the non-being of un-being." Unfortunately, he's the most powerful magician in the world, which comes with some responsibilities. Whether or not he's up to those responsibilities is a matter of debate; for many, including Gramma Fark, believe that Iddo is insane. Oh yeah, and he's a yak.

Imagine Harry Potter written at an adult level, then toss that in a blender with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and A Confederacy of Dunces, sprinkle in a dash of Pynchonian psychedelia, and voilá: Yak Laughter.

©Coram Parker, Coram LLC. All rights reserved.

Chapter 4: The Finger and the Stinger

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