The Exemplar is a thought-provoking sci-fi story about family, identity, and a future world wrestling with climate change and its far-reaching impacts.

Waking up with fragmented memories, Will Herndon discovers he's no longer in the time or place he considers home. The 19-year-old has been named an Exemplar – the best example of his family's bloodline. Now, grappling with the impacts of climate change and guided by his enigmatic grandfather and a jittery counselor, Will must navigate a formidable competition to ensure his family's future, while also dealing with a traumatic past that could derail his path to success.

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Excerpt from The Exemplar © Copyright 2025 Josh Chetwynd

CHAPTER ONE

Will Herndon woke up feeling groggy and uncharacteristically nervous. He was certain something wasn’t quite right as he strained to focus his eyes. But when he could finally see his surroundings, everything appeared to be in its proper place.

His sophomore dorm room at Harvard featured all the posters he and his roommate Cooper Fielding had carefully placed on the walls. “It’s a bit overkill on the baseball,” he thought as he looked at infielder Nolan Arenado wearing the uniform of his hometown team, the Colorado Rockies.

Arenado didn’t even play for the Rockies by the time the roommates had put up the poster, but they picked the vintage picture because it reminded them of when Arenado was a superstar at Coors Field and Will and Cooper were kids starting their baseball journey. The boys often talked about how they missed Denver and seeing the mountains. Colorado was a point of pride for both of them. That meant that when many of their Harvard classmates slowly and resentfully became Boston Red Sox fans to fit in with their surroundings, Will and Coop remained true to the Rockies — even when the team was terrible. It was one of the many things that kept the two 19-year-olds so close.

Will’s eyes began to shed their bleariness, but his mind continued to feel off-balance. A wave of lightheadedness washed over him as he sat up. He instinctively looked over at Cooper’s bed, which was neatly made. The sight puzzled him, though he didn’t quite know why. Will fumbled for his phone, foggily recalling his numeric password. He unlocked it to find a photo of his mom, brother, and grandfather. He exhaled and smiled. It was the first calming moment of the morning.

Maybe a look at the news could help him clear his muddied thoughts. But as he tried to connect to the Internet, he found he had no service.

“That’s odd,” he muttered, remembering his WiFi was usually very reliable. Those two words — that’s odd — were the first he’d uttered that day. But, again, it didn’t feel right. He had to force them out of his throat and the noise he made was abnormally muted.

That unsettled him again. He was still trying to pinpoint the source of his jitters when there was a knock at the door. Will got up, but his legs were feeling a little heavier than normal. As a result, he walked a bit slower than usual, ambling a bit awkwardly to the front of the room.

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