Should exceptionally horrible crimes be given exceptional horrible punishments? In this work of philosophical fiction, Arthur Montague wakes just moments before his defense attorney walks into the door to greet him. The defense attorney informs him his trial is about to begin. However, Arthur has no memory of the horrible crimes he’s being accused of committing. In fact, he has no memories at all. During his brief trial, he learns that decades earlier he led a genocidal government. As punishment for leading mass executions, he has been put on trial, hung, and reincarnated, hundreds of times. His punishment, it seems, is to be found guilty and put to death for decades, regardless of his memory (or lack of) of the crimes he previously committed.

How much is a year of your life worth? How much would you sell a year at the end of your life for? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Martha finds herself in need of money. She heard from a friend that LifeCorp will pay $500,000 for a year of the end of your life. She heads in, fills out the forms, and finds out, because of her drinking, smoking, and rudderless lifestyle, her life is only worth $20,000 per year. She sells 18 years of her life, pays off her parent’s medical debt, and goes to get drunk. A few months later, she finds out she is pregnant with Benito’s child. It’s a casual relationship, but he agrees they should both go in to sell a year of their life to help support their new child. Benito’s sale is successful, however, when they run tests on Martha, they determine she doesn’t have a year left to sell.

Are there people who should be erased from existence? Are we all inherently self, rather than collectively, focused on our motivations? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Mr. Shaw’s mother, along with others, was brutally murdered when he was a child. The rapist/killer was caught, tried, and put to death. This caused Mr. Shaw to have a difficult childhood in foster homes. Now, as a married adult, he has gone back to the government and requested a review of the killer’s life for potential erasure from existence. Under this process, it will be as if the killer was never born. It also means anyone he talked to, or any actions he took (both positive and negative) will have never existed. This means, in potentially, Mr. Shaw will have never met his wife, but he wants to move forward anyway. His request for erasure is denied by the government because, it turns out, one of the women the killer raped gives birth to the child who cures cancer. Mr. Shaw doesn’t care but changes his mind when he finds out his daughter would have become sick, were it not for this medical marvel.

Is purposeful ignorance the key to a happy life? Should you choose to believe in free will to give your life meaning? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, a depressed philosophy professor is a deep believer in the lack of free will. Everything from his job to his divorce, to his depression, had to happen exactly as it did. Eventually, his drinking catches up to him and he is put into a recovery hospital. It’s a long, hard road to recovery but he begins to wonder if the false belief in free will is the key to living a happy and successful life. Months later he is released from the hospital, moves to the Dominican Republic, and goes back to drinking and enjoying retirement alone.

What obligations do a divorced couple have to each other? Is there an obligation to return phone calls, or check in on an ex’s welfare? In this philosophical short story fiction, the narrator and Dawn have recently gone through a divorce. They were childhood friends, so they have known each other forever and were married for seven years. However, Dawn refuses to pick up the phone and refuses to return the narrator’s phone calls. He continues calling to “check-in” over a period of years with no response. He reaches out to Dawn’s parents to make sure she is okay. She never responds and, in fact, moves to another city. Eventually, the narrator hears she has committed suicide.

Should we be held accountable for what we imagine, but choose not to actually do? Does wrong thought always lead to wrong action? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, scientists have discovered a way to record dreams and make them available for playback. This quickly gives rise to the bootleg sale of horrible and wonderful dreams to a general public interested in ever-more spectacle. It also creates a market for buying and watching the dreams of celebrities. Finally, it brings about the government subpoenaing dreams to use as evidence in trials and, later, in helping it discover crimes that have not but might, happen in the future.

Should the past be forgotten? Does it help society, and the community, to let the past go? How can we learn from the past while simultaneously letting go of it? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, a young boy has been put in charge of the machine that stores the exact collective memories of his grandmother (“Gromma”) and the community at large. His job is made more difficult because the machine is old, falling apartment, and a fire killed the previous caretaker long before his training was complete. As the story closes the boy finds out the previous fire was caused by a community member who believes the community can only move forward by destroying the machine and allowing the memories of the past to naturally fade into obscurity.