Aphelion

You're welcome!

My vote is in--and I had a hard time deciding this one.

I'm thinking.

Congrats, Jon and Iain! As before, I wrote comments as I was reading the stories. Here they are, and I hope none of this is taken too hard. --------------------------------------------------------- Friends everywhere I couldn't figure out where this was going until the last word. That's not usually ...

There's nothing like guiding a lost traveler home.

Beautiful.

This one's pretty good too.

This is amazing.

Just read it; you'll see. I'm nominating it for Year's Best.

Mine too.

Hint: maybe the word you're looking for to describe that Medial building is "clinic."

Yeah, when that furry overstuffed sausage was mobbing me for attention, I thought, "I have got to get me one of these!" Almost said it out loud. Trouble is, I can't, with this cat; he'd eat all the dog's food. Maybe next time. One of the other people who asked about the bike said, "Where's it made?"...

Hilarious stuff there, thanks. I got my Valentine's day dose of love today. I was out riding my not-a-bicycle and stopped to take a picture. I was watching what I was doing while I heard this barking getting closer and closer ... finally put my phone away and looked around, here comes this Corgi at ...

I spent some considerable time last night going through notebooks trying to find the material--an old abandoned novel project--to base this flash attempt on. Finally found it, but I learned something about how much I forget. I also am considering a new project, of transcribing that material, since i...

I may have an idea for one. Not sure if I can boil it down to fit the word limit.

Oh, and by the way--I voted for Michele's story.

Congrats, Michele! Great job; you well and truly clobbered us all. Here are the notes I made on these entries, oh, so long ago ... ----------------------- Handle I've never seen anything like this done before, but it's strangely effective in conveying the notion of parallel worlds. -----------------...

Seems I had overlooked your other stories here. I just read them both. Good stuff.

I like this story quite a bit. It's got all the working parts, and kept throwing obstacles in the main character's path. The only thing I balked at was the tiny flake of deus ex machina when they managed to find the explosive charges in the otherwise-emptied-out storeroom. Only somewhat improbable, ...

Mmm, fried boloney. I remember it from when I was a kid. Greeeeeaasssse ... too bad I don't actually cook anything any more; I'd put that on my shopping list. But you know what? The stuff in baloney is the SAME stuff that's in hot dogs, just a larger diameter. So, split a hot dog lengthwise and fry ...

Nice, a fresh look at First Contact. And it's one of those stories that ends with a box of questions and next to no answers. Does it always require lots of alcohol and electric shocks? Will they talk to anyone, or just those trying to learn more? Are they telepathic?

Stimulating. Thanks.

Wow. Everybody wants to complain about nobody commenting, but nobody wants to comment. :roll: Except Lipinski and one or two others who comment and don't complain--and except the flock of others who neither complain nor comment--including me, usually ... C'mon, black hole, I'm ready for ya. :lol: Re...

I've got the first vote in.

First time in years--I'm in.

Wow, nice!

And best wishes to all!

I love this poem! I don't know if the writer is referencing someone I should have heard of elsewhere (the hero), but it doesn't matter; the poem stands on its own, or rather, bounds along hauling the reader with it.

I'm nominating this one for a place in the Best Of list.

Grab something and hold on ...

I'm actually writing one!

Just don't know yet if I'm going to be able to get the whole story into the word limit. I'm compacting as I go. I'm years out of practice. We'll see.

Zero percent down or twenty? Depends on your credit score ie... numbers between 1 and 800 1 means you're not only broke and poor, but dead 800 means you're an alien from Mars owning a string of banks Sheesh, it's not quite like that. I have a credit score over 800 and the only strings I own are att...

Congrats, Michele! Excellent work! I made some very brief notes: Last Night in Cancun--Head-hopping in first paragraph. The Tale of the Blue Raven-- ***** [that's five stars]. Taylor and the Sloth--Surprising trick, with explanation. My Old Were-ferret Plush...--Too much explanation--info-dump. Weak...

Oh I could *certainly* do one of those. Getting it to fit the word limit ... mmm, not so easy. But at least I've got a story idea for a change.

My vote is in. Some interesting stuff here.

Lucky me; I'm not compelled to choose between the reading or the cheese--I can do both, in whatever proportions I decide for myself. And the cheese is tasty and not nasty--one letter making all the difference, as if comparing whipped cream to smegma. And some people seek out nasty cheeses. There's o...