The Placeholder: A Fictional Tale of a Monastery

A homeless young man unexpectedly finds a place at an Eastern Orthodox monastery. A novelette.

Twenty-one-year old Ian Sullivan has no job and nowhere to sleep when his twin brother, Daniel, invites him to spend some time at the Monastery of Saint Moses the Ethiopian, where Daniel is a novice. But there’s a catch: Ian has to pose as Daniel. Daniel plans to take an unsanctioned break from the monastery while he deals with some problems in his life.

Ian knows switching places is a bad idea, but he can’t refuse Daniel. To Ian’s surprise, monastery life appeals to him more than he expected. But just as he’s getting along with the monks and starting to like the long services, he learns his twin wasn’t completely honest with him. Daniel’s problems are bigger than Ian realized, and fixing them is about to become Ian’s problem.