Pulphouse“Tinker Henry and the Clockwork Whore” by James Gotaas
“A Rough Day at Theophice” by Kathy and Jerry Oltion
“Protagonist” by Steve Perry
“Lost Friends” by R. W. Wallace
“Death by Cookie” by Robert J. McCarter
“In All Your Sparkling Raiment Soar” by Robert Jeschonek
“Urine Deep Trouble” by Celine Malgen
“Bravo and Jazz” by Ron Collins
“The Last Backyard Defender” by J. Steven York
Reviewed by Christos Antonaros
In “Tinker Henry and the Clockwork Whore” by James Gotaas, a cowboy meets a clockwork geisha. What makes the cowboy stand out is his tinkering skills and his badass attitude. Tinker Henry hates racists as much as he hates those prying upon the weak. Although the story is as quick as Henry’s draw, it lives behind the catharsis of a sunset on a barren desert.
Thanks to “A Rough Day at Theophice” by Kathy and Jerry Oltion, we move from a badass cowboy to a group of warriors who seek honor in battle. However, they will find out that sometimes the mind can be sharper than the blade—and deadlier. A village is being controlled by a band of orc-like creatures that think, speak, and act as members of a corporation. You cannot kill them, but you can get them with a good bargain. A very clever story with a great sense of humor.
In “Protagonist” by Steve Perry, I didn’t understand well what was happening. I know that the devil and God have been switching places in a reality game. Every time one plays the role of the protagonist and the other of the producer. A quick but witty thought piece on the relationship between good and evil. The world can go and destroy itself. God has other plans.
“Lost Friends” by R. W. Wallace speaks of two ghosts that decide to solve the murder of a girl whose spirit just arrived in the cemetery. Other than being incorporeal, being unable to leave the cemetery makes their job almost impossible. The hideous crime against the kidnapped girl and the danger of the same thing happening to her friends work as a catalyst for this story. It is a terrifying case that motivates the ghosts to try their best to warn and help the living and sends the readers a beautiful message. If it were for the dead, they would have offered a hand—even a spectral one—to make the world a safer place.
The title “Death by Cookie” by Robert J. McCarter says it all. The protagonist slips on a cookie and dies. When her spirit meets an afterlife friend, she also realizes the truth behind her husband’s Alzheimer’s disease. When he sleeps, his soul steps outside his body and converses with her like he used to do before his condition had declined. A thoughtful alternative to the afterlife, where we spend eternity next to our loved ones.
“In All Your Sparkling Raiment Soar” Robert Jeschonek narrates a speculative relationship between bees and humans. Who would have thought there is a connection between a species that blindly follows its queen and the most chaotic mammal on this planet? The author does an excellent job materializing in our minds that relationship through the point of view of a space bee. Humans were indestructible, immortal until the bees come from space. Through achieving death for the human species, bees dream of reaching immortality. But it will take a lot of time and experimentation to get a desirable outcome.
As I mentioned above, the story is narrated by a space bee. She is not as hilarious as she sounds. She is stubborn and ruthless and will torture humans near death. However, she has a soft spot for her favorite human. A peculiarly witty story, arguing the relationship between man and nature since the dawn of time. Bzzzzz.
“Urine Deep Trouble” by Celine Malgen is a short-short story that made me wince and giggle at the same time like a teenager talking farts in a schoolyard. The narrator belongs to a unit whose members can detect diseases or conditions by tasting urine. She will detect an imminent heart attack and save a man’s life. The speed and precision of her detection will make her a famous urine taster. Definitely a story with a certain taste of humor, no pun intended.
In the futuristic world of “Bravo and Jazz” by Ron Collins, people can change physical characteristics by altering their DNA. However, for change to be a successful and peaceful transition, it needs perspective from every side that experiences it. Perspective is essential in this story. Jazz and Bravo are in love, but the latter struggles to match the former’s perspective on the new world order. Those who do not alter their DNA fail to understand the perspective of those who do. As expected, the world changes, and those who rush to feel the change will always be marginalized. A beautiful story with a cyberpunk note and a sweet melancholic taste.
In the last story of this issue, “The Last Backyard Defender” by J. Steven York, the toys left forsaken in a backyard are still fighting the imaginary battles of our childhood. Backyard Joe still fights the good fight while his friend Limey tells him that the conflict has been over for many years. Seeing all those toys forsaken and decayed, the memories of a playful past seem cruel and not as childish as we might think of them.
Christos Antonaros enjoyed some time in the Wild West, but now he is ready to go back to his new home in Alexandria, VA.