"Jimbo’s Body Lies in Bed, the Revolver in His Lifeless Hand"

DISASTERS COME in every imaginable configuration, and some in shapes that defy imagination. The most disturbing aspect of any disaster, though—and in spite of its great magnitude—is just how personal it can be. Case in point . . .

"Zeroing Out His Wavefunction."

By Peter S. Drang (J. Stephen Pendergrast, born 1960).

Illustration by Jacey (Jason Cook).

First appearance: Nature Futures, August 27, 2021.

Short short short story (2 pages).

Online at Nature Futures (HERE; PDF).

Life is bad enough without the discordons: "He scoffs, points the gun at me. I drop to my knees in front of him, grab the ghostly barrel with my right hand, press my forehead to it" . . . .

Principal characters:

~ The narrator:

  "Tortured by his brutality, imprisoned by his threats against my family, appalled by his cleverness outwitting the apathetic legal system."

~ Jimbo:

  "I hear him slam the vodka bottle down, his revolver’s clickety-click spin — then a muffled bang. I freeze."

References and resource:

- There are some big ideas floating around in our story, difficult notions which our author, to his great credit, has made comprehensible for the average reader; see Wikipedia for longer discussions of "Wavefunction" (HERE), "Superposition principle" (HERE), "Interpre-tations of quantum mechanics" (HERE), and "Quantum fiction" (HERE).

- Peter S. Drang seems to specialize in short fiction; you can find his homepage (HERE).

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