Stories from the Brink of Dementia

Publisher Marketing: The second collection of short stories from Zorra Bland and the Banyan Tree Writers' Group. Barton Glascock contributing. In this volume: "Vectors" - A man is at the end of his rope, having been liquidated by his unscrupulous ex-wife, comtemplating things aboard the sailboat Exile; "Millicent Menlove Goes To Hell" - Traveling to Southern California to a conference for her MLM cosmetics firm, Millicent is tortured by all the things her Texas town has taught her to fear; "Newton's Law & The Diva" - A couple have dinner with a friend in a Dallas tavern, only to become embroiled in a brawl started by a conniving woman; "Waiting" - A woman describes the downward spiral of her neighbor and childhood friend, suffering from the perils of ego and greed; "I, Fetus" - An unborn child unleashes an scathing diatribe against his irresponsible, infantalistic mother; "The Letter On The Tabletop" - A woman tells us the tale of her beloved husband's illness and death, and the hated Phoenix neighborhood that she believes killed his spirit; "Out Blows The Torch" - The continuation of "Waiting," and the struggle of a dispirited neighbor; "Suspicious Delivery" - An employee of The Eye plans a bizarre trip to Nevada to return a lost high school album when things go very wrong; "La Amarguita" - The story of a strange restaurant that serves up quite a bit more than Mexican food for it's angry, geriatric clientele; "Navarro Road" - Barton Glascock's tale of a haunted railroad crossing in the California desert where accidents happen with no explanation; "Temerity" - Zorra has lunch with a brainy friend in Palo Alto; "St. Peter On The 10" - A traffic accident in Palm Springs has unexpected and serious ramifications for a loud-mouthed and drunken lawyer; "To Scratch An Old Itch" - A woman goes on to a social network and friends an old co-worker, only to have her quiet existence unravel; "Persona Non Grata" - Zorra receives a visit from an "old friend" from Oakland; "The 1200 Block Of Bloodworth Street" - A Los Angeles man receives a mysterious phone call from a bank in his North Carolina hometown, and arrives at a sublime perspective on his early years and the social factors of the 1960s that affected him. Also included are the "Rants" that are signature to the works of Zorra Bland.