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    After Dinner Conversation Magazine: After Dinner Conversation Magazine, #43
    After Dinner Conversation Magazine: After Dinner Conversation Magazine, #43
    After Dinner Conversation Magazine: After Dinner Conversation Magazine, #43
    Ebook118 pages1 hour

    After Dinner Conversation Magazine: After Dinner Conversation Magazine, #43

    By C.M. Selbrede, Ian Creasey, Meg Groff and

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    About this ebook

    Named Top 10 "Best Lit Mags of 2023" by Chill Subs

     

    Delight in intriguing, thought-provoking conversations about ethics, philosophy, and social issues! After Dinner Conversation is a monthly literary magazine publishing short fiction. Each issue features both established writers and up-and-coming authors who contribute fascinating philosophical insights on controversial topics like marriage equality, assisted suicide, the meaning of death, animal rights and defining your "purpose." It's time to go deep in search of truth! If you love reading imaginative short stories on hot topics that make your brain think deeply but also have you laughing out loud... then this magazine is for you!

     

    "After Dinner Conversation" Magazine - January 2024

    • Echo: An awkward kid grows up to be an awkward adult, and opts for a "personality replacement."

    • Pincushion Pete: The founder and poster boy for brain patches gets one too many.

    • The Dirty Home: A well-meaning lawyer cleans her client's dilapidated trailer to stop CPS. 

    • Rental Units: A temporary "rental-a-child" malfunctions, crushing her real mother's heart.

    • Observation 292: Science discovers plants feel pain like humans, and are sentient.

    • Domiciliary: A lifelong alcoholic housewife continues to drink as her husband opens a store downtown.

    • The Angel in The Juniper: Holly meets an angel who tells her to kill her revolutionary professor.

     

    After Dinner Conversation believes humanity is improved by ethics and morals grounded in philosophical truth. Philosophical truth is discovered through intentional reflection and respectful debate. In order to facilitate that process, we have created a growing series of short stories across genres, a monthly magazine, and two podcasts. These accessible examples of abstract ethical and philosophical ideas are intended to draw out deeper discussions with friends, family, and students.

     

    ★★★ If you enjoy this story, subscribe via our website to "After Dinner Conversation Magazine" and get this, and other, similar ethical and philosophical short stories delivered straight to your inbox every month. (Just search "After Dinner Conversation Magazine")★★★

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAfter Dinner Conversation
    Release dateJan 10, 2024
    ISBN9798223184621
    After Dinner Conversation Magazine: After Dinner Conversation Magazine, #43

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      Book preview

      After Dinner Conversation Magazine - C.M. Selbrede

      After Dinner Conversation Magazine – January 2024

      This magazine publishes fictional stories that explore ethical and philosophical questions in an informal manner. The purpose of these stories is to generate thoughtful discussion in an open and easily accessible manner.

      Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The magazine is published monthly in print and electronic format.

      All rights reserved. After Dinner Conversation Magazine is published by After Dinner Conversation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the United States of America. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Abstracts and brief quotations may be used without permission for citations, critical articles, or reviews. Contact the publisher at [email protected].

      ISSN# 2693-8359      Vol. 5, No. 1  

      .

      Copyright © 2024 After Dinner Conversation

      Editor in Chief: Kolby Granville

      Story Editor: R.K.H. Ndong

      Acquisitions Editor: Stephen Repsys

      Cover Design: Shawn Winchester

      Design, layout, and discussion questions by After Dinner Conversation.

      https://www.afterdinnerconversation.com

      After Dinner Conversation believes humanity is improved by ethics and morals grounded in philosophical truth and that philosophical truth is discovered through intentional reflection and respectful debate. In order to facilitate that process, we have created a growing series of short stories across genres, a monthly magazine, and two podcasts. These accessible examples of abstract ethical and philosophical ideas are intended to draw out deeper discussions with friends, family, and students.

      Table Of Contents

      From the Editor

      Echo

      Pincushion Pete

      The Dirty Home

      Rental Units

      Observation 292

      Domiciliary

      The Angel in the Juniper

      Author Information

      Additional Information

      * * *

      From the Editor

      AS I READ THE STORIES and drafted questions for this issue, I realized there were a lot of stories about starting over, becoming a new person, or coming to terms with the pain of your failings.

      This, like every issue, rightly causes reflection. I recently saw an interview by Stephen Colbert who said, It is a gift to exist, and with existence comes suffering. There is no escaping that... if you are grateful for your life... then you have to be grateful for all of it.

      In several of the stories in this issue, I wish I could give the character a hug and tell them, This too, is the beauty of being alive. Maybe that’s all I wish I could tell anyone struggling with life. Sometimes, I wish others reminded me this as well.

      As you read the stories in this issue, I would encourage you to do the same. Ask yourself what you would want to tell the characters struggling in the stories. And then, perhaps, actually tell the people you know and love in need of support.

      In the worst transition ever, I should also mention we have begun repackaging our stories into themed books. Ten stories sharing an ethical topic. Our first themed book wills be on technology ethics. Our goal is to release nine this year; available in online stores, our website, and ordered from your local bookstore. Perfect for classrooms. Oh, and we have started doing short story lesson plans too...

      Kolby Granville – Editor

      Echo

      C.M. Selbrede

      THIRTEEN STARS

      Once, during a depressive episode, Stanley cut out thirteen small paper stars and taped them to the ceiling of his cluttered bedroom. They were made from the construction paper left over from his youth, stored away in a basket on a shelf in the basement, forgotten until that very moment. He was seventeen.

      Stanley had seen glow-in-the-dark stars online and had always thought they’d make his room look cooler. But he didn’t have any of those, and he was depressed, super depressed, because Gavin and Bartholomew had been shit-talking him behind his back, and that sucked, so hey, why not make paper stars to cheer him up.

      Life didn’t work that way, Stanley knew. But he wasn’t sure exactly how life worked.

      A knock at the door. Stanley’s sister, an older woman with kind eyes and frizzy hair, peered at him from the doorway. Hey, Stan. What’s up?

      What do you mean? Stanley said flatly from where he was lying on his bed, staring up at the lame paper stars as if they meant something.

      You don’t do arts and crafts unless you’re upset, Lizzy said, shrugging. She stepped over the mounds of unread comics and books carefully, making her way to the bed and sitting down next to him. Talk to me.

      Stanley hesitated, but he knew there was no chance tonight didn’t end with him spilling his guts to Lizzy. They had that kind of bond. Have you ever heard of something called Echoing?

      "Capital e Echoing? Lizzy wrinkled up her nose. Gross."

      So you have, Stanley said.

      Of course I have, Lizzy said. It’s all anyone can talk about at work. Personality transplants. They say it can help deal with violent or dangerous criminals.

      Yeah, Stanley said, swallowing. He let the silence linger for a moment before saying, Apparently, Gavin and Bart think I should get Echoed.

      What?! Lizzy recoiled. Excuse me? Why?

      Stanley shrugged. Word on the street is they’re thinking it can be used for people with autism and depression too. People like me.

      Lizzy shook her head in disbelief. You don’t need to change, Stan. Not for anyone.

      I know, Stanley said. Another charged silence followed until he cleared his throat. But do you think I’d be happier?

      Why would you be happier? Lizzy said.

      I just... wonder sometimes. If I knew when to dap up my friends instead of just high-fiving them. If I had the confidence to go shirtless at the beach. If I—

      You can’t spend your life thinking about what ifs, Lizzy said. You’ll miss the whole thing.

      But that’s all I do, Stanley said. I imagine a life where fitting in isn’t painful. Where happiness isn’t fleeting and rare.

      It was Lizzy’s turn to be silent. Do we need to make another appointment with Dr. Bramble?

      Stanley shook his head. I’m fine, he said.

      A blue paper star detached from the ceiling and fluttered to the bed, a splash of color on a sea of gray sheets. Stanley watched it, wondering if he should’ve made a wish as it fell.

      Lucky Number Twelve

      Stanley lay on his bed, staring up at the blank ceiling of his college dormitory. Part of him missed his paper stars. The rest of him was grateful he hadn’t brought them. He wasn’t sure they’d be able to stand to see what he’d become.

      It was 11:15. Stanley’s class had started at 11. He was missing it again. Not for any good reason. His ADHD and depression had just been flaring up, so he’d been missing a lot of classes, spending his days stewing in regret instead of being a productive member of society.

      It wasn’t just class. Stanley had joined the club rugby team a semester ago, and he was okay at it. Lucky number twelve, in fact... a center. But he hadn’t been to practice for weeks. He knew the guys were talking about him, but why wouldn’t they? He’d never fit in at the socials. The first few times Stanley was drunk, he’d walk around the mucky, frat-like basement backward because, for some reason, that seemed like the kind of thing a drunk person would do. That was weird. Stanley was weird. The memory of his stupidity hurt, almost physically. It stabbed him from the inside out until he was sure his throat was filled with knives.

      Stanley’s phone buzzed. It was Oscar. He groaned.

      Oscar was probably Stanley’s best friend. They’d met during orientation on the mandatory hike through the gross Maine wilderness, and Oscar had fallen into a pond by accident. Stanley had helped fish him out, and for some reason, they just felt like friends afterward. So they were.

      Oscar was the kind of person Stanley wanted to be: confident, outgoing, athletic, competent. Stanley could go on. Oscar wasn’t perfect—Stanley knew that—but Oscar knew what he wanted from life and was determined to get it.

      He also didn’t walk backward while drunk.

      Muttering to himself, Stanley answered the phone. Hello?

      Oh, sick, you’re up, Oscar said over the line. I have something crazy to tell you.

      What is it? Stanley did his best to sound interested, even

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