Challenge 1072

Return Trips

In Gary Inbinder‘s Chicago Max: When did Max Niemand first meet Olga? When did he begin to suspect she was not what she seemed at first?
In Michael Barrington’s The Shannike, a Storyteller: How does the Shannike’s story of Tir Na Nog answer Oonagh’s “second” question? Why might one suspect that the Shannike may have been planning to tell the “horse” story all along?
In Jamie Lynn Wirth’s The Guy with the Scythe: Whom might one identify — perhaps at a slight stretch — as the “reasoner” in the story: Rory, Alex or Rosie?
In Charles C. Cole’s Swain Clatchee and Formal Authority: How does the story refute in advance literal-minded readers’ possible objections to Swain Clatchee’s role in Weezer Township?
In M. D. Smith’s I Love My Smartphone:
1. Why might the cellphone personality always be known as “MX” rather than have a person’s name?
2. Although the personality of MX returns to Liz’s new cellphone, what vulnerability makes the Cloud less than a substitute or metaphor for Heaven?
Which stories in this issue might be said to feature “return trips”?