A free collection of contemporary and sf/fantasy short stories from author James Comins. In "The Soft Operative," a corporate saboteur kidnaps a genetically modified employee. In "Four Seasons of a Man," a Vietnam war vet's life is seen in four vignettes. In "Matt and Maggie," a punk couple live through a suicide attempt. Twenty stories and poems and poem-story-things.
1. The Soft Operative
A corporate saboteur kidnaps a genetically modified employee.
2. The Silent Pasture
Beauty and the beast sit in the garden of Eden.
3. Maxwell's Demon
Flash fiction for a New Scientist writing contest.
4. Red Sox Yankees
A city erupts in a riot.
5. The Old Open Door
A poem based on "St. James Infirmary."
6. The Woman on the Other Side
A story about Alzheimer's.
7. Four Seasons of a Man: Spring
8. Four Seasons of a Man: Summer
9. Four Seasons of a Man: Autumn
10. Four Seasons of a Man: Winter
Vignettes of a Vietnam War veteran's life.
11. A Guide to the Apocalypse, by Henrietta Stevensen, Age 46
A satiric look at Internet conspiracy theorists and zombie-obsessed loons.
12. Who's Afraid of the Big Beowulf?
A prose poem mashup of Little Red Riding Hood and Beowulf.
13. Moonwalk
Three kids lost in the guts of the Space Elevator.
14. The Sky Fell
. . . and what happened after.
15. Places
Gesture drawings in words. Not quite a poem, not quite stories. Prosody.
16. The Coffin Worms
A poem of the horrible things that happen after you die.
17. The Death of Piers Plowman, or, The Barley-Child
A metaphor from The Angelus of Millet.
18.The Singsonger
No idea. I think it's funny, anyway.
19. The Rise of Arch-Lord Evil
The origin story of the big evil badguy from every video game and fantasy story.
20. Matt and Maggie
Two punk kids deal with a suicide attempt.
