Stories That Knocked on My Door

<p> In this collection of short stories the author dives into the deeply personal world of the imagination in search of a better future.</p><p></p><p>DAPHNE. A poet passionately loves a Russian immigrant ballerina in New York. But a trauma from her past has turned her away from love keeping him and the whole world at a distance. </p><p>TWO IMPERFECT PAINTINGS. Two artists each with a handicap that prevents them from reaching their full potential meet in a gallery where their paintings are placed side by side.</p><p>THE PLAGIARIST. A professor writes a beautiful book of poetry which he claims to have remembered from a past life. Or is he just a fraud? </p><p>EARTH REFOUND. Survivors of the destruction of the Earth's ecology have rebuilt their world but now have a terrible premonition that those who destroyed their world are about to return. </p><p>THE FRENCH TIME MACHINE. A guilt-ridden French general and inventor who waged war against Algerian rebels in the 1950s and 60s seeks to travel in a time machine to see if he can bring back good news from the future. </p><p>DANCING SALSA. The American husband of a Latin American wife secretly watches her dancing salsa and feels the heartbreak of all he has failed to do for her.</p><p>ROMAN BRITAIN COMES TO EARTH. A confident old-fashioned professor praises the cultural benefits of ancient Rome's invasion of England - until beings from outer space invade our planet.</p><p>HANDCUFFS. A Colombian immigrant to the US faces hardship and finds herself pushed by the dynamics of history and her passion to love onto a path of self-destruction.</p><p>THE WATER PITCHER. A discounted man who is determined to prove himself loses sight of the consequences of his crusade to be 'somebody.'</p><p>THE POWER OF ANGER. Technicians find a way to convert human anger into electricity and must then take steps to ensure that the power source never runs dry. </p><p>THE ANGEL'S ARIA. The passionate platonic love between an eccentric failed composer and an underachieving yet remarkable opera diva reaches a state of high drama when the composer demands the diva sing a song that is impossible to sing or else he will blow his brains out.  </p><p>TAKING OFF THE CAST. A struggling writer is badly injured in a fall but discovers the liberating effect of temporarily having nothing expected of him as long as he is in a cast. </p><p>THE FIRST MAN IN THE VALLEY OF EGGS. A man wakes up in a valley of eggs. He is the only one who has hatched and spends his life waiting for someone else to come out of an egg.</p><p>THE VIOLINIST. A violinist arrives in a small town where the people dislike music. </p><p>FETTERMAN. A young Native American man is harassed by racists and is on the verge of ruining his life by shooting them as his friends desperately search for a way to deter him. </p><p>GRACIELA. A young man's brief meeting with an idealistic Mexican woman changes his life forever. Did she save him or destroy him?</p><p>THE CASE OF THE MISSING CHEERIO. A piece of breakfast cereal seems to vanish into thin air precipitating a philosophical battle between a New Age son and a fiercely rationalistic father. </p><p>SNOW WOMAN. Musings about a woman who only talks to the man who loves her when it snows. </p><p>THE BET. Is the morality we practice on Earth really morality or just the fear of being punished for following our desires? A man about to be reborn decides to settle the question once and for all. </p><p>MYSTERIOUS LITTLE MACHINE.   An undercover cop follows a suspicious man trying to figure out the purpose of the odd device he keeps pointing at people on the street. </p><p>THE CLAMOR OF SPIRITS. A couple discovers to their horror that their new house seems to be a hotbed for ghosts. Who are they and why are they here?</p>