Sure, we all are. Stories that speak to us of our own lives, and the
lives of others we know. Stories that remove us completely from our own
loathsome existences and catapult us away through space and time to far
futures and distant planets. Stories that remind us of magic, that
stimulate our imaginations and create wondrous mindworlds inside us.
Stories unlike anything we've ever read before, and stories just like our
favorites we've read a million times. Stories that titillate us, startle
us, give us erections and moisten our vaginae, that astound and amaze us,
that frighten and terrorize us, that stalk and molest us, that populate
our dreams and nightmares with iconic images out of the spiritus mundi,
channeled from the dim memories of the ancient times. Stories that make
us think we're insane and stories that will take us there. Stories that
change the world, stories that pull the trigger, stories that plunge the
stone knife, stories that swing the club, hurl the dagger, thrust the
spear, and bring down the axe. Stories of faith, wisdom, heroism,
stupidity, genocide, galactic destruction, the knowing laugh of a newborn
babe, the grin of a young wife, the curse of a virus monster, the spell
of a randy wizard, the cynicism of tiny teenagers. Stories of the drive
for freedom in the cars of oppression and the bliss of slavery to the
blips of reverie. Stories that pay the bills and ring the bells and ream
the belles and boom the spills. Stories that cover birds and seals with
goop, stories that drill for oil in the wildlife reserves, stories that
leach toxic chemicals into the groundwater. Stories that fill us with the
virus of hope, infect us with the bacteria of love, inoculate us against
the phages of hate.