Aphelion

Mr. Bennett called this 'an abstract ghost story' -- I thought of it more as a vampire tale, assuming an entity that feeds on emotion/dreams instead of blood.<br><br>viz. also 'White Court' vampires in Jim Butcher's 'Dresden Files' novels (soon to be a TV series!)<br><br>and even the 'destiny'-extracting device in the episode of 'Angel' set in Las Vegas (where people destined for greatness of one sort or another have all their talent and imagination stolen).<br><br>Or one could think of the whole thing as metaphorical -- a heartbreak deadening a soul, but a small gesture of kindness restoring it -- but what fun is that?<br><br>Robert M.

This story had to be removed, as the author had placed it elsewhere after receiving no response. It would have been nice if he had replied to my acceptance note (sent on the 15th) before the issue went live, but not everyone checks their e-mail fifteen times a day the way I do.<br><br>So ... how many of you had a chance to read it before I wiped it from the server (at about 8 PM Eastern Time)?<br><br>Robert M.