The next day, they returned to Aurora, to get directions to the hangout Sarah told them about. She said she hoped to see them there Thursday night. They also helped themselves to a deep purple cloak, a scarlet hair bow, and a stack of Zon, Cosmic Knight From Beyond comic books for a dime apiece. (Art, Lue Lyron -after Sal Buscema) That night, and for several afterwards, they lie reading them, butt-to-butt, on the palette they had made from blankets, on the living room floor. Save for the lawn chair Troy had brought them, there were never any furnishings, except for the shower curtain they bought in the drug store on the first floor. Sometimes they snuggled up to read just one, together, narrating aloud. Gina enjoyed the Shakespearean flavored dialogue of the cyborg Zon, as well as his tormented, unrequited love for Sandy Davis, as he defended her small West Virginia town from disguised aliens that fit into the unsuspecting lives of Clairionville. His mission to clear Earth o...

Late that afternoon, Lewis felt sympathy for his new bride’s queasiness, and offered to pull off at a convenience store. He found it interesting, to ponder what encounters each one might hold, what kind of people worked at each one and frequented each one. When you are from out of town, after all, you never can tell what makes one better than the next. There is a self-contained feeling with long road trips, as one encounters places never seen again, passing through. This particular stop contained a real blast from the past. There, on the magazine rack, just as they were years ago when he mowed lawns and saved the pittance of grade incentive money from his parents. Comic books! He tried not to dawdle in getting a cold drink and snack back to the car. His choice was obvious: a big reprint volume of stories, starting with a triple-sized issue that came out a couple of years before he could earn money to buy issues of his own. He smelled the air floating down from the red...

Two days later, the phone rang. It was his dear college friend Von, wishing him a happy wedding. “Hey, what’s up?” Von started. You could never have guessed English was his second language. A steady diet of American and British programs, and liberal use around his home in Sri Lanka, had prepared him well for his American trip. After his initial shyness led him to be dubbed “The Brown Recluse,” he never missed a chance to come to the drawing room or the bars and diners on the Strip and socialize. “So Peter Parker’s found his Mary Jane?” “She’s in my web, Von.” “Well, don’t let her slip away,” he quipped. “No bridge diving without a bungee! Although I can understand a girl diving off the George Washington Bridge to get away from your diatribes.” “Aw, get stuffed, Von. She’s such a sweet, down-to-Earth chick. I can’t wait for you to meet her. We met last month.” “Wait, are you doing this for a green card or something?” joked Von. “Yes, and I rushed the date before...

Pet Names “That’s not bad…you should become an advice columnist,” said the handsome veterinarian, helping Abigail’s pet out of his own pocket at the clinic. When her teaching job dries up as her career begins, that piece of advice becomes the new way Abigail makes her living. But the person who gave it will hardly return the favor and take the advice: “let love into your life.” There’s your back of the book quote; it’s useful to have an end in sight, after all, LOL. In theory, PET NAMES is the title. Well, then, we’re almost there, right? Abigail (?) or just Abby to most who know her takes her sick animal to the clinic. Doctor there has a tiny assistant, his precocious niece Merriwyn or just Merri, with her knack for recalling pets by name and zeal to help at the age of five… Well, you can see the possibilities from there, friends. Now what I wanna do is weave in suggestions and hear stories from teaching, your pets, health care, or whatever life experience you feel like sha...