Challenge 968

Hand Up

In David Barber’s What They Wished For: The superannuated knight’s vision of being congratulated by King Arthur is bestowed by a space alien who has landed in a flying saucer. Why does the knight not have the dream simply of his own accord? What might be the significance of the extraterresttrial intervention?
In Tom Vaine’s The Ballad of Omega Brown: Omega and the Mark of Doom: Is the story a short story complete in itself? Or is it a intermediary chapter in a novel?
In Harrison Kim’s How I Met Charmaine: Is the narrator necessarily telling the truth about the implausible return of his lost items? Why might he invent such stories, particularly the one about the ring and the underwear? What do they emphasize?
In R. D. Ronstad’s An Interlude on the Way Home: What justifies its being classified as a prose poem rather than as flash fiction? Do you think the classification is justified, or does it seem overly fastidious?
In Alcuin Fromm’s In the High Pass: Why does the Duke ride out into dangerous territory accompanied only by his eldest son? Does Doustian question his father’s reckless deed? Does he give any indication of knowing the reason for it?