Challenge 717

Come Back Carefully

1. In Lori R. Lopez’s “Gallery,” the fire marshal flees lest he become part of the art gallery’s gory medium. What will happen to other visitors? What would you expect the fire marshal to do?

2. In A. K. Homolka’s “Wild Weather,” what is the difference between the fantastical characters and an extreme weather event?

3. In Sameer Kulkarni’s “The Shrinking of Barry Teeter,” the story is written as scenes of verbal comedy. Might it work as a screenplay? In prose, how might it be written as hellzapoppin farce?

4. In Denny Marshall’s “Unseen Deep Travelers,” if the “unseen deep travelers” are clouds of Dark Matter, why might they not be “travelers”?

5. In Gregg Dotoli’s “June Walk”:

   1. How might the meaning change if “never go” were in the second stanza?
   2. Does the poem overstep BwS’s guideline about micro-poetry?

6. In Bill Prindle’s “Somewhere Beyond the Sea”:

   1. In the story as a whole, which characters have names? Which are referred to only by their function in the story?
   2. in what way is Michael’s father’s communication with Tony Moretti, on Okinawa, similar to his and Michael’s experience with the Clements, on Hatch Island? In what way is it different?

7. In Josh Medsker’s “The Comeback”:

   1. How might Elvis feel about being reincarnated as the narrator?
   2. Is the story humorous or grotesque?
   3. Regardless of humor, is the story a tragedy or a comedy?

Responses welcome!

Copyright © June 5, 2017 by Bewildering Stories
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