A collection of fifteen short stories by Trevor Hopkins (email). The stories are all linked in some way; why not read them and see if you can work out the puzzle?
An explanation of the connections between the stories can be found here.
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| Table of Contents | ||
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Itch (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
Do you get an itch you can't scratch? No, not that kind of itch!
You know how it is. You get an itching, tickling sensation, somewhere in the middle of your back, and you can't quite reach to just the right place. Perhaps it's between your shoulderblades, or just below, or to one side. Or if you think you can reach, it's never entirely satisfactory wherever you scrape or rub. Do you want to know what causes that itch, the one you just can't seem to scratch? I know the reason why you itch. If you're sure you want to know too, read on. |
| Itch has been published in the Abaculus 2007 anthology by Leucrota Press, available from Amazon and Borders. | ||
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How to Impersonate a UFO (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
The story of how my Dad pretended to be a UFO while flying a military jet one chilly winter's evening back in the Fifties.
And, more importantly, why... |
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Frustration Causes Accidents (PDF | Postscript) |
(To follow) |
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Anomalous Propagation (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
A group of nerdy radio hams on a Radio Direction Finding competition discover more than they bargained for when they track down a strange phenomenon on a windswept hilltop. |
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Occult Express (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
A first-time trip to a strangely familiar shop in a English university city leads to deeper revelations during a novice witch's initiation. |
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The Desert and the Sea (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
The Magicians of the Convocation converged unerringly on one particular spot where the Red Desert met the sea. The most mundane rode on horses, with trains of camels and asses for provisions and servants. Others came floating down from the sun-baked mountains on faerie wings which emerged ethereally from beneath the flyers' robes. Yet others travelled at the helms of ships drawn by Water Daemons whose fish-like tails rippled the waters fore and aft, or in boats whose sails were filled by Daemons of the Air, all but invisible except where they roiled and flowed incessantly around mast and rigging. |
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Daemon Bridge (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
The lands of Magic and Mundane are linked by a long causeway and an ancient stone bridge, which form the only safe way to travel between the Two Worlds.
A Guardian's cautionary tale to newly-arrived Vistors to the world of Magic: what can happen when magical creatures are allowed to escape into the Mundane world. |
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Broken Box (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
I leapt from the ambulance to find out what was going on. A split-second later, I heard to my dismay an expensive-sounding crash from behind me. In my youthful enthusiasm, I had failed to disconnect the set from the cables which led to the antenna and power socket. My transceiver was yanked from my hands and smashed on the ground, with pieces flying off in several directions. |
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The Ghost of Computer Science (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
A chance nocturnal encounter with a curious old porter leads a young computer science researcher to a strange and ghosty encounter. The research student engages the help of an academic skeptical enquirer, and is horrified to discover the truth behind the haunting. |
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Shades of Troy (PDF | Postscript) |
(To follow) |
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Stone and Shadows (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
We gathered our cameras and Thermos flasks, and strode off towards the bridge.
As we approached, I got the strangest feeling, almost of dread, as we got closer - a distinct sinking sensation in the stomach, making me listless and miserable, and somehow wallowing in contemplation of my own mortality. |
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Dust of Angels (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
A chance visit to the attic of a shared house leads a young student and radio enthusiast to a spooky - not to mention dusty - encounter with a previous resident. |
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Sustainability Matrix (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
Acquiring a big research grant is an exceptionally good way of gaining kudos in a university. It is a considerable source of clout, even real power, over one's colleagues in the Schools and Faculty, and an essential pre-requisite to becoming a full Professor.
So it is no real surprise that academic researchers are always on the lookout for The Next Big Thing to fund their insatiable appetite for resources. Right now, of course, the Big Thing is on the intercept of green politics, economic and cultural globalisation, and the biophysics and geophysics of climate change. |
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Windmills of New Amsterdam (PDF | Postscript) Afterword (PDF | Postscript) |
Settlers Square, the open area around the Tower, was the original landing site for the new arrivals. The city of New Amsterdam which grew up around it and the surroundings areas form one of a handful of settlements scattered across this world of New Earth.
Like the original, this Earth orbits its Sun - a star once known in the catalogues as Bygones - at a distance of ninety-three million miles, turns on its axis once every twenty-four hours and with a year of 365-and-a-bit days. This year is 977, based on our year zero - the date of the first official landing. |
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Making the Crossing (PDF | Postscript) |
(To follow) |
Future Writing
Every now and then I have a random thought on something else to write. Some of my ideas for other writings can be found here.
Home Page | Links | Fiction Introduction | Lyndesfarne Introduction | Connections Explanation
| © 2006-2008 Trevor Hopkins. All rights reserved. | Webmaster | Last updated 14 October 2008 |