Stop right there! It’s time to take a break from the world you think you know and to step through into another one. These five stories offer a guided tour of new possibilities and different places. They rely on magic, science, and sleight of hand, and will betray your trust at every opportunity. But just because they are fantastic, doesn’t mean they aren’t real (somewhere). You can stay tucked away on a safe perch and let this book unveil the genre-bending consequences of rather minor changes to a world that might be the one you live in, or might not; you can follow the way events unravel when cause and effect aren’t quite so boringly predictable. Stories of ideas are, however, always dangerous. Consider yourself warned. This collection includes: —Is That Asking Too Much? —Next Time, I’ll Shoot Him —Hitchhikers —The Last Duck —What Goes Up...