Challenge 639

Ham That Dream Tune

In Anna Ruiz’ “Back-Up Karaoke,” how many bands, songs, poets, singers and albums can you identify? When do they date from?
In Morris Marshall’s “Last Stop,” is James delusional? If he isn’t, how can he take Katie to dinner? If he is, does the story overstep BwS’ guideline about plots that end with “But it was all a dream” or the equivalent?
In S. J. Budd’s “The Secret Lake in Bowmere Industrial Estate,” what library book does Viv want Morgan to find? What meaning might it have for Morgan aside from collecting an improbable amount of money in overdue fines?
In Thomas Lee Joseph Smith’s “Your Witness,” what political and psychological subtexts can you find in the story?
In Richard King Perkins, II’s “Perturbing the Outer Planets”:
1. Why is the piece classified as flash fiction rather than as a formal essay?
2. How does the narrator seem to feel about alien visitations to Earth? Enthusiastic? Ambivalent? Dubious? Cynical? How do you feel about them?