Misadventures

Nineteen short stories by Talmadge Walker, some sci-fi, some historical, some humorous, some sad. In "Independent Study" an English Lit student travels in time to meet Geoffrey Chaucer. A dinner menu creates havoc for interstellar diplomats in "Dinnertime." Two people manage to beat the system in a futuristic corporate police state in "On Ice." And in "In the Air" a hermit tries to cope when the earth is invaded by bumbling bureaucrats from out space. A poorly-named ladies' man can't seem to stay out of trouble in "The Timely Disappearance of Van Dorn Sickles Smith." In "Kunu-Ri" two buddies from Turkey try to stay alive in Korea. Bob Marley's ghost helps a reggae star avoid temptation in "A Christmas Carol in Kingston." In "Gilead" a young woman seeks to find meaning after a tragic auto accident. An age-old struggle is re-enacted in a boxing ring in "The Title." In "Desert Vision" Antoine de Saint-Exupery finds inspiration in desert hallucinations. In "Incident along the Somme" a British soldier struggles to survive between the trenches. And some deacons are confronted with an unspeakable confession in "Confession." In "William Wiley Prickett" Confederate prisoner-of-war tries to find a way home. A father-to-be covers up a sad secret in "Love and Little White Lies." In "Grandmother" an aging woman in Alabama rejects racism. And a grandmother in Virginia seeks a way to reach out to her husband suffering from dementia in "Calling Ruby."