Contents

       Title Page

COUNTABLE INTRODUCTION BY BRIAN ALDISS

1. INDOORS WITH DELILAH

2. THE TRYST

3. IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE

4. COMPLEX BEHAVIOURS

5. WHEN YOU’RE SMILING

6. PAINTING BY KARL SPITZWEG

       7. WANTED, THE WILDERNESS

       8.THE DRAGON SLAYERS

       9. THE UNDERGROUND STRIKE

       10. DELILAH’S DANCE

       11. THE LIVING PAST: A Rhyme

       12. XENOPHOBIA

       13. SANCTUARY: A Poem

       14. THE FRENCH READER

       15. MUSICAL TASTES

       16. JOCASTA SPEAKS

       17. ESCAPE, 1255 A.D.

       18. THE OLD HOUSE

       19. THE SHORT LIFE OF ROSETTA STONE

       20. THE CALL OF THE WILD: in verse

       21. LOST AT SEA!

       22. RUINS

       23. THE UPRISING

       24. THE SUBJECT UNDER DISCUSSION

       25. ANIMAL FARM

       26. CIVILIZATION

       27. THE ETERNAL PRESENT

       28. THE IMPACT OF POETRY

       29. A SALTY SACRIFICE

       30. MY HOME TOWN

       31. CINEMA PARADISO

       32. CRO-MAGNON HE SPEAK

       33. THE NEW LIFESTYLE

       34. APHORISM

       35. RUDOLF HESS

       36. RETURN OF DEAR OLD GRANNIE

       37. A LONG-STANDING HERO!

       38. AN EXILE’S MINI-SAGA

       39. CROSSROADS

       40. HIGH TIDE

       41. HAPPINESS AND SUFFERING

       42. A VOICE IN A GARDEN

       43. A LITTLE HEART SONG

       44. THE LENIENCY OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY

       45. GLAMOROUS SMILE, BRAVE GOLDFISH

       46. MY FRIEND EDDIE

       47. THE DINOSAUR ARCHBISHOP

       48. THE LAWN TILL DAWN

       49. THE STANDING STONE

       50. DIVING BELLE

       EPILOGUE: CAN YOU FEEL ANYTHING?

       Copyright

      About the Publisher

COUNTABLE INTRODUCTION BY BRIAN ALDISS

      A fifty-word story? Isn’t that magical? The creation of all fictions is part magic. For a fifty-worder, you must be numerate as well as literate. The Daily Telegraph took to my idea; ‘Mini-sagas’ ran there for six years! Here are my own interpretations.

      With an Introduction of... how many words?

1. INDOORS WITH DELILAH

      On a remote landing in Grandfather’s castle hangs a certain portrait. It dominates my life. Two heavy-breasted women, one nursing a fox, dance to an unseen musician. Does my wife hear that obscure music? Do I? Life itself is an obscure music. But how can I describe in only fifty—