The tale starts here . . .

Round robin story. Three have contributed to this story so far. One  started it, another wrote an answering piece, then back to #1, and later #3 got into it. So it takes a meandering course. Who knows where it will go? Want to add a piece? Put it in the comments. Miguel, or Meehel--whatever his name is--will try to work it in. And add your name to the Hall of Notoriety. Literary quality not required. We just gotta be able to read it.   Hey Tomás, Miguel here. Great flower! I never know with you whether to compliment Mother…

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Episode #2, Virtual beer (by Tomás)

The building is your basic shoebox; hall down the middle, doctors office rooms, sizewise.  But their little lobby? Absolute digi modern!  Sucks you in, baby.  Great hype.  Dazzling commercial.  You just know they got a great toy down that hall. "Just you two?"  Gorgeous Carnala, our hostess, asks. "Yep." "How about a sentubuzz?" "Just a beer, dear." "Oh, OK."  She seems disappointed. "But somewhere else." "We got that." She directs us to Door 7 and that’s where we go.  As we enter and before we can get the door closed a voice from all around says, "Have a seat."…

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Episode 3, Pig Boy (Miguel)

"Oh, what couldn't she do with that tail, Bro!" I was gearing up to tell a tale as tall as the brew, trying to decide which lie to tell first, pulling on the brew to give me time to kick my thoughts together. Ohh, but it's this stuff that has the kick! "Well . . ." I drawl, or slur. My thoughts seem to be hopping right out of my head and frolicking all over the bar. I manage to grab one thought by the feathered tail, and put all my attention onto animating her. "Well, so, are you…

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Intergalactic sex and mayhem . . .
… plus favorite recipes

The Universe is violence and chaos. Life is an insignificant scum on some of the warm rocky orbs. On rare worlds, life looks upward at the stars, and wonders, and yearns. On very rare worlds, life reaches out to other worlds, other stars. These rare beings, mostly from water/oxygen worlds, war with each other. But tiring of fighting, they share their stories. Knowing that their stories and their aspirations are all that set them apart from cold meaningless entropy, they honor and preserve their stories. These world races, with so little else in common, have a word for themselves–oki–”those who…

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… plus favorite recipes

Aliens Crashed in My Back Yard

Chapters California woman risks fate of entire human race Dead and dying aliens Nursemaid to an alien Sing language Breadbox tells her story Agate and Breadbox’s great adventure My best friend is gone All hell breaks loose Quarantine. Incommunicado My 15 minutes of infamy Home phoned I want my space ship back Not that far from Zone 51 Spacegirl yearning My space ship calls out to me Epilogue

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Love Poison #9

Out on the limb she was. Broad bare limb high above the forest floor. Clinging with her claws. A gentle breeze, ruffling her feathers wrapped around her like a cloak, making her invisible against the dark brown bark. Except for her eyes, two large round yellow jewels, slitted pupils. Watching for the approach of her prey. Here he comes. Tall, he must duck beneath limbs. Wide, he pushes aside small trees, breaking them heedlessly. Trudging noisily through the brush, no stealth, making the racket of one fearless of predators. Except she was one. As he passed beneath she could…

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Death of the Old Gnarled Tree

I was an alien stranger here, the only passenger dropped off by the creaky planet hopper at the sole space port on this strange, out-of-the way world circling a somber reddish star. The local oki* were squat and ugly. They talked funny and treated me rudely. Thus, I walked their roads alone. As I walked through their villages, they gave me scant notice, despite—or perhaps because of—my strange appearance to them. I’m tall, gangly, and pale, compared to their short, compact, swarthy mien. Their guttural talk would grow guarded; they would busy themselves looking elsewhere. Small ones would stare…

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Aliens Crashed in My Back Yard

1. California Woman Risks Fate of Entire Human Race Secrets of Immortality Gleaned from Alien Remains, trumpeted the New York Times on page 1. Yeah, those were the aliens they dug up from my property up along the California coast. And yes, I admit it, I was the one who had buried them, with the help of my friends. Had to. They were dead, and we didn’t have enough freezer space to hold them. Also, we wanted to honor them, and NOT let the government cut them up to learn their secrets. But they did that anyway. And they…

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How to Jump Between Stars

This is from Aliens Crashed in My Back Yard, Chapter 20. A discussion between two main characters, Selena and Breadbox. “You are saying that you and your crew traveled from your world to ours—a distance that it takes light about 4,000 of our years to travel—in a very short time?” I asked Breadbox. “But of course we used the star jump. We didn’t actually travel all that distance.” “Wait. I don’t understand this,” I interrupted. “How does this work? What does it mean to ‘jump’ between worlds? Our science tells us this is impossible.” “I don't know how it…

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