by James White
"Yes."
She watched him over the top of his cubicle. "You’re the best writer here, you know. You should win an award."
"I know." Aziz put on his jacket. "Stay away from Erma."
Gene laughed.
Aziz headed to the diner under a heavy gray sky. Let her laugh. He understood what he had not understood before.
The future is an amorphous realm of maybes, all depending upon the myriad choices a man makes. Each choice creates a new set of maybes, and each maybe its own myriad of additional possibilities.
Ah, but a man had to want to make his choices. Desire was everything. Screw the telos, it knew nothing of desire.
Soon it would rain. Aziz shivered under the chill wind.
The gods blew on.
THE END
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Also by James Michael White
Bliss
Horror, Short Story
Youth and beauty are the color of blood. This youth, this beauty, has a name. That name is Bliss...
When a compassionate psychiatrist tries to help a self-mutilating young woman, he discovers that some maladies exist beyond the realm of science, and that some solutions are their own special horror. Approximately 5,467 words.
Once
Horror, Short Story
Ramon is a small-time gangster with a gat and a ton of 'tude when he meets a stranger who gives him the power to see the future. Strange as that may seem, it's far less strange than why he gave that power in the first place. Approximately 5,700 words.
Project Ultra
Science Fiction, Novella
In the waning days of WWII, an American scientist tasked with countering the Soviet Union's psychic warfare program finds himself in an unexpected battle of wills against a power-mad boss, Russian spies, and a desperate need to protect the greatest psychic the world has ever known. Approximately 26,000 words.
Whiteness
Science Fiction, Bio-Punk Short Story
Silvius trusted the wrong friends and stole from the wrong enemies. Now he's one step ahead and on the run in Germany, far from the Indonesian past he cannot escape. Haunted and hunted, what's a harried thief to do? Evolve. But Evolution takes its toll, and the risks may be greater than death. Approximately 6,161 words.