Challenge 748

Not the Day or the Hour

In Joshua Kamin’s “Our Little Sanctuaries”:
1. At what point might the reader suspect that Galen is delusional? At what point does he seem to begin hallucinating?
2. Does Galen meet Ananke in the office building? Why might the reader suspect he does not really meet anyone? How does the story avoid overstepping our guideline #7: “Dream Stories”?
3. Why might one reasonably suppose that Galen never reaches the conclusion of Camus’ Myth of Sisyphus?
In Dan Rice’s “The Future of Our Prosperity”:
1. What is the geographical setting of the story?
2. What detail implies that at least part of the country is not “prosperous”?
3. What might happen to Mrs. Moorhouse?
4. What makes any flight by land or sea risky in the conditions of the story?
5. The story is a dystopian cautionary tale. How close to or how far removed from reality is it? About how many refugees actually crossed on foot from the U.S. to Canada in 2017? Why?
In Mark Dennis’s “The Speaking of Lorna”:
1. What seems to have happened to Lorna’s elder sister?
2. After ten years of pretending to be mute, how might Lorna suddenly be able to speak intelligibly?
3. What is the function of the old man in the last pew? Is he innocuous or creepy?
4. Does the congregation show any reaction to Lorna’s outburst at the lectern?
5. Why does Lorna renounce Christ rather than denounce Father McClatchey? Why does she resolve to say nothing about the priest?
6. Father McClatchey hangs himself in full view of Lorna. Why is she the only one to notice?

Responses welcome!