Challenge 1132
Salubrious Drink
In Steve Akinkuolie’s Beautiful Stuff: At what point in the story does the plot turn from potential tragedy to comedy?
In Ken Hogarty’s No Hard Feelings:
- The narrator, a high school teacher, discusses at one point the difficulty in learning how to pronounce the names of students who come from all over the world. Does the story ever specify Faryn’s ethnicity? If not, why not? Hint: see #3 Stereotypes and Sadiqua Azad’s poem “Identity.”
- In 2025-26, might the narrator, as an active high-school official, be interrogated by U.S. government forces? If so, why, and what might be the consequences?
In Gary Clifton’s Main Dock Annie and Wilbur: How do the local people and authorities initially treat Annie and Wilbur: with acceptance or rejection? Three years after being formally celebrated for their role in the capture of the three killers, why might Annie and Wilbur voluntarily disappear from their now comfortable lodgings on the Main Dock?
In Charles C. Cole’s In-Laws Out of Time: Why might Uncle Gaylord concoct such a far-fetched science fiction story for the benefit of of Cliffy, the new parent and narrator? Why is Uncle Gaylord initially portrayed as the kind of solemn professor who would not tell such stories with a straight face?
In Channie Greenberg’s Feline Quiddity: What more commonplace words could be substituted for the more esoteric ones? What are the origins of the rarer words used in the poem? Why has English retained such different levels of vocabulary? What purposes might they serve?
In Michael Wooff’s Libation to Neptune: Why did ancient Greeks pour libations to Neptune? In the poem, does Neptune seem to appreciate the narrator’s libation? Why might the narrator appear not to understand what he’s done?
What is a Bewildering Stories Challenge?
