The Trailing Edge

                 Antonia Potter, the Wand Duel champion of the Wizards, and Donovan McGreggor, the Jedi Knight champion, bowed to each other in the battle arena. They were the finalists in the Galactic Protection Forces Psi Combat Championships. The Psi Combat Championship was a two rule contest - only extra-powered humans of the Galactic Protection Forces were allowed and Do Not Kill Your Opponent . Contestants interpreted the Do Not Kill rule to permit near lethal wounding with the unwritten proviso that the wound should not hamper the combatant's future military career. Antonia stood at attention, wand in hand and Donovan in en garde pose, light saber glowing and ready. The  en garde  pose inspired Antonia to commence the combat with a saber attack. She whispered Lux Gladio Lumina and a blade of green light grew from the end of her wand. Donovan leaped into the air at her. Antonia twirled to the right to parry. ...

It started on May 1st. In a hospital, in Seattle, in the middle of the night, a baby girl lay in her bassinet playing with her toes. She was quiet and had a smile on her face. Her name was Sheryl in honor of her mother’s mother. The doctors declared Sheryl a normal healthy newborn and they were right except that now she floated in the air two inches off the bassinet's mattress. There were nine hundred and fifty-six floating babies born that year.  Mysteriously, all babies were in the United States, in famous places as New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville, and little known places as Forney, Texas and Beach City, Ohio. The Parents, while changing diapers, discovered their beloved babies floating mid-air. An alarm ensued. The parents called their doctors, who called the University hospitals, who called the Center for Disease Control, who called the Army, who called the President, who called Congress, who, having no one to call, set up an Oversight Committee. Fear, inspi...

“ Hey, look! Windmills," shouted Emily as she bounced up and down in her seat and pointed out the bus window. The Eiger family, Winston, Jennifer, and their young daughter Emily, were touring the Midlands. The tour bus arrived at Windmill Alley, so named by the Tourist Board since it was a mile long row of medieval windmills straddling the Ghrent Canal. The tour was a multi-cultural program sponsored by the Ministry of Magic. Impressed with the view, Jennifer turned to her daughter, "Can you tell me why non-magical people built windmills?" Emily scrunched her face and after a moment, shook her head, "no Mommy." "Well, it gets very hot here in the summer and in the ancient times, there was no air conditioning. So the non-magical people living here built windmills to cool the farmers working in the fields. Windmills are giant fans," said Jennifer, nodding and thinking of her Non-Magical-People Anthropology training. "Wow," replie...