Far Fetched Fables

Main Story: “Perchance to Dream” by David Morrell (Originally published in Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy.) Dr. Baker. Dr. Baker. He came to my office on a Friday afternoon. Tall, slender, and sandy-haired, he had a thin, aristocratic face that might have been handsome if it weren’t so haggard. His eyes looked puffy. Red streaked their whites. I was surprised when I later learned that he was forty. He appeared at least ten years older. He said his name was Jody Cooke – he spelled his last name, emphasizing the final “e” – and when I introduced myself as Dr. Gerald Baker, he frowned. “Baker. We’re both in that nursery rhyme.” “Nursery rhyme?” “The baker, the cook, and the candlestick maker.” “You’ve got it slightly wrong,” I said. “Wrong?” “In the nursery rhyme, it’s the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker.” “Ah, yes, the butcher,” Jody said, his raw eyes looking pained. David Morrell is the author of First Blood, the award-winning novel in which Rambo was created. He holds a Ph.D. in America