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In these stories stuff just happens.  There is no scientific justification for anything, and there doesn’t need to be.  Look at your own life: Doesn’t stuff just happen, all the time?  Like what happened to my homework?  I know the dog didn’t really eat it. Or where’s the remote? Or how did I get here…and where is here? Who am I? You know what I mean, but, of course, stuff that happens in these stories is a little more serious than a lost remote. The late-nineteen-fifties and early-sixties television series, Rod Serling’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE, in my opinion, was filled with stories of events that just happened.  When that show began I was ten years old.  I would glue myself to the screen, and Rod Serling himself was one of my early heroes, and still is.  According to the 1996 Oxford Dictionary, the “twilight zone” refers to “…any physical or conceptual area that is undefined or intermediate, esp. one that is eerie or unreal.”  So Rod was right on target in naming his series.    I’m not saying my stories would come up to Rod Serling’s standards; what I am saying is that what he created helped me immensely in what I have created.ContentsThe Last Unemployed Man (2100 words) Futuristic: Bentley Durant is in charge of computer listings of births, deaths, employment. Joe English is unemployed; no designation for unemployed.The Quiet Little Town (2000 words) A city couple buy a house in a very quiet town (seemingly no people at all). A strange breeze blows toward an old barn with a gaping black doorway.What Would be Heaven (2000 words) Eden Kimball dies and finds Heaven is what he thought, but discovers he can’t have everything he wants.Dead Animal Farm (3300 words) Felix is homeless. There are rumors of homeless people disappearing. Security Officer Roberts is night gate guard at a slaughter house. There have been visits by Negore Heidenreich, management, except Negore is not even an employeeThe Dreaming Glass (2400 words) Franklin daydreams of love, finds a city street reflection where only certain people appear. A beautiful girl appears and he falls in love, and enters the reflection but finds he cannot stay unless he believes.Viands (2000 words) Futuristic: People massed, wear and look the same, stand in line for deposits of wastes, withdrawals of food. He believes there is more to life, and meets She; together they escape through a wall of flame, the only thing different in their world.Requiem for Homogen (2900 words) Jonas sees a face (not his) in a bar booth mirror, then he feels whatever emotion the face reveals until actual death threatens. The Levigation of McLeod & McLeod (3100 words) Waverly Kingston has a grudge against his work place. He has practiced concentration to where he can look at an image on a photograph and with his hands destroy it, but he decides to save Millie.Intermission Block (3000 words) After years of experiencing déjà vuRonnie Burnett has been drawn back to Intermission Block, where that strange, déjà vu feeling originated, only he didn’t know that’s where it had originated.The Chair (2850 words) Tad doesn’t hire people, but his job, that of having each male potential employee sit in a specially wired chair while they fill our forms, determines not only who will be hired but whether or not they will work directly with women.Food Project (1400 words) Alex, slaughterhouse employee, watches the killing of Torbo, a prize-winning Holstein steer, which wasn’t even supposed to be there.To the Nineteenth Century (6300 words) Demolition workers Selby and Rivet see the 19th and 20th centuries at the same time (and a dangerous time warp) from the steps of their next project. Demolition must stop..The Commons (8000 words) Wilderness in a man’s backyard. Through complaints of animal sounds, smells, and loud music journalist Kari is led to the story. She finds the land as it was before white man appeared…and it’s coming back.

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