Being a writer is about having a story—and real stories are about change. Whether a short story, or a long one. Whether about small moments or big ones. Internal alterations, or external makeovers. Journeys and ordeals. Enlightenment. Or the descent of darkness. In whatever manner they are told, in whatever culture or language, and in whatever format, a writer is someone who crystalizes an instant of transformation: a second when that stone touches the water and either bounces along—or sinks.
The stories in this collection are flash fiction, longer stories, and even one that uses a vocabulary of only 108 different words. Similar characters and similar names weave together the worlds of different writers’ imaginations. Are they the same character each time, or merely echoes of another character in another author’s story? Each story is different and every author’s voice unique. But change is the one element common to them all.
Each writer has tossed a pebble out across the pond.