Book excerpt: Reality's Pen portrays the Eastside of Asheboro, NC as a mother who provides a safe cocoon filled with neighborly concern and care. This location, aka "The Hill," is a place of magic, with a sense of community pervading the air. This comfortable milieu flung author Thomas D. Rush out into the world like a cultural arrow aimed at intriguing future events. From a 1989 one-on-one, prophetic conversation with the first African-American President of the United States, to a mystical revelation from a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr., Reality's Pen provides a mesmerizing tapestry of reflections. Rush includes his timely residence in celebratory Chicago, along with an enticing view of fellow North Carolinian Michael Jordan, as Jordan led his Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship.