Challenge 357

Where It Began

In Bertrand Cayzac’s “Figs and Riesling,” part 13:
1. How do the police captain and Colonel Mustard take opposing political and theological positions?
2. Fred says: Je suis venu pour... pas de mort... ‘I came for... no death’. Marinella interprets his words as pas de morts, ‘no fatalities’, because mort and morts are identical in speech. Explicate the theological and existential ramifications of the pun.
3. What does the “magical money” signify?
4. The First Episode ends with: “The weight of the universe has not varied by a fig.” What is the significance of the fig? What is the significance of the Riesling?
5. How does part 13 parallel in some ways the book of Acts?
What do you think of the cover art in Danielle L. Parker’s review of The Wood Beyond the World? Ignore the titles and send us flash fiction submissions based on the graphic art.
In Ingvar Mattson’s “Project Unnamed: Memories”:
1. Why does the mother seem so nonchalant about her husband’s death in battle? How might a character be depicted who is trying to suppress emotion?
2. Is the father’s story embedded in the son’s story or vice-versa? Does it really matter which it is?
3. The commando raids seem pointless. How might the social and historical background be amplified?
In Gabriel Timar’s The Hades Connection, chapter 21 is practically a study in popular stereotypes. What stereotypes does it affirm? Which does it contradict or seem to contradict?