ANNABELLA AND OTHER STORIES contains forty-two short stories, including several prize winners. Widely varied in subject matter, they are entered alphabetically, "Annabella" first, "Windmill Hill" last.
Annabella is a ghost. A playwright-director visits his little theater, long dark because of an accident that killed several players. They materialize on the stage, and Annabella, who was to become his love, reminds him that they have a date . . .
"Annie" concerns a remarkable cat, an orphan (of course) whose mischievous behavior brings together her mistress and the man of their dreams. (Cat people will love this one.)
"B.D." is about a scientist researching stone-age natives of New Guinea. He sees their culture as "Before Daedalus," mythology's first inventor. Why haven't they advanced? As he autopsies brains, they turn the tables, radically changing his world view.
Back when big-band jazz was big, Laura Jean, a band leader's country wife, must feed and care for twelve young musicians. Fed up, she demands her independence. "Liberating Laura Jean" engages a crew member assigned to teach her to drive.
Thrown overboard while deep-sea fishing, a middle-aged engineer ponders a "Shell Game" of who wants him dead: his son, his partner, or an old friend.
In another detective story, "Pillar of Truth," a hotel clerk trapped by mobsters must be inventive to save his life.
"Windmill Hill" is a place where a lad serving newspapers pauses to reflect. He'd like to join his big brother, a pilot bombing Tokyo in WW II. But his recent attempt to kill a snake triggers his "coming of age."
These themes suggest the range of Bill Carrigan's palette of tales. Read them in order or at random. And check Bill's seven novels printed by Create Space and Kindle.
