<p>Henry Pollard has always had a dangerous relationship with words.</p><br><p>In 1861 Indianapolis, while the country rushes headlong toward war, Henry would prefer to remain where he is: alive, sarcastic, and safely distant from glory. But a simple errand on behalf of a worried mother places him at a recruiting table outside the statehouse, where one ordinary moment begins quietly rearranging the rest of his life.</p><br><p><em>The Pen</em>&nbsp;is an original short story set in the world of&nbsp;The Line Uncrossed, a literary Civil War novel about family, memory, survival, and the irreversible weight of seemingly small decisions. Told with wit, warmth, and the hindsight of years, it offers a deeply human glimpse into the young men who marched toward war before they understood what war truly was.</p><br><p><a href="https://www.donmcdonald.com/home-1-1-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Line Uncrossed</a>, available May 22, 2026 at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Line-Uncrossed-Novel-Civil-Soldier-ebook/dp/B0GY5RZNHF/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19IBNNBI8RLZS&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tgjSr2-VP-iHCv7t0IuRks-meSf-C4lIAbWlq1iSq0M74J_HCohH4UusWNzMvW5_INWEUYwbzHBJl--nILMeGk_QFgWvW0b_ihvdslms3ks.XLTV4wbWI-u4a55SP3akSa2o-d4UQC0LGjzfVWwQ8T8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=the+line+uncrossed&amp;qid=1778343483&amp;sprefix=the+line+uncrossed%2Caps%2C196&amp;sr=8-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/The%20Line%20Uncrossed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BN.com</a>, and a host of other book and e-book services.</p><br><p><strong>Podcast listeners can get an early access to The Line Uncrossed e-book offer with bonus stories, including this one, at </strong><a href="https://open.acast.com/donmcdonald.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>donmcdonald.com</strong></a></p><blockquote><br></blockquote><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>