Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Arthur Whitaker

Arthur has taught ESL in South Korea and Russia. He is currently a freelance writer and is pursuing a degree in Special Education. He has published fiction in other webzines.

Happiness for Sale is classified as a short story because it exceeds somewhat BwS’ admittedly arbitrary flash fiction length. However, the story is flash fiction in structure and can be considered a model of the genres of both flash fiction and the short story.

Readers will soon see why. The setting is in a near future. We aren’t given a big picture of it; the technical details are quite understandable and speak for themselves. The characters are complex, and they show their depth by their actions. Even the “offstage” character, Anton, has an important function.

The opening paragraph is only 65 words in length, and yet it speaks volumes. It can serve as a refreshing tonic for writers who may find they have to resist the urge to make “info-dumps.” What does that brief paragraph do? If anyone would like it spelled out, we can publish an explication de texte, but only on request.

Arthur Whitaker’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Arthur. We hope to hear from you again soon and often!