After Dinner Conversation Magazine: After Dinner Conversation Magazine, #21

By Gary Charbonneau, Richard Zwicker, Tadayoshi Kohno and 4 more

"After Dinner Conversation" Magazine - March 2022

• Now You Know:  Felons virtually live their victims criminal experience, and the ramifications of the crime.
• The Tomorrow Man:  A young man claims he is able to "remember" the future.
• The Glowing Bonsai And The Kintsugi Pot: A penitant man attempts to stop the NSA from weaponizing his programmable light emitting plants.  
• Hedonics, Inc:  A corporation has cracked the code to making everyone completely happy, all of the time.
• Soul Reader:  A dying cancer patient is given the "gift" of experiencing the emotions of those around him.
• Two-Percenters:  A new treatment may allow 98% of the people to be genetically enhanced, but at the expense of the 2% who already are.
• Venom In The Cloud Forest:  A young man suspects someone has been changing past tribal records.

After Dinner Conversation believes humanity is improved by ethics and morals grounded in philosophical truth.  Philosophical truth is discovered through intentional reflection and respectful debate. In order to facilitate that process, we have created a growing series of short stories, audio and video podcast discussions, across genres, as accessible examples of abstract ethical and philosophical ideas intended to draw out deeper discussions with friends and family.

 

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• Language: English
• Publisher: After Dinner Conversation
• Release date: Mar 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201146597

Book preview

After Dinner Conversation Magazine – March 2022

This magazine publishes fictional stories that explore ethical and philosophical questions in an informal manner. The purpose of these stories is to generate thoughtful discussion in an open and easily accessible manner.

Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The magazine is published monthly in electronic format.

All rights reserved. After Dinner Conversation Magazine is published by After Dinner Conversation in the United States of America. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Abstracts and brief quotations may be used without permission for citations, critical articles, or reviews. Contact the publisher for more information at [e-mail]

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ISSN# 2693-8359      Vol. 3, No. 3  

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Copyright © 2022 After Dinner Conversation

Editor-In-Chief: Kolby Granville | Acquisitions Editors: R.K.H. Ndong & Stephen Repsys

Design, layout, and discussion questions by After Dinner Conversation Magazine.

https://www.afterdinnerconversation.com

After Dinner Conversation believes humanity is improved by ethics and morals grounded in philosophical truth. Philosophical truth is discovered through intentional reflection and respectful debate. In order to facilitate that process, we have created a growing series of short stories, audio and video podcast discussions, across genres, as accessible examples of abstract ethical and philosophical ideas intended to draw out deeper discussions with friends, family, and students.

Table Of Contents

From The Editor

Now You Know

The Tomorrow Man

The Glowing Bonsai And The Kintsugi Pot

Hedonics, Inc

Soul Reader

Two-Percenters

Venom In The Cloud Forest

Author Information

Additional Information

* * *

From The Editor

IF I’M BEING TOTALLY honest, I’m uncomfortable writing this From The Editor blurb each month and even more uncomfortable with it being moved to the front of the magazine. However, our publishing partners assure me it’s the way it’s done. When it was in the back, I could take solace in knowing most people probably never read it.

I always feel pressure to write something profound. But, I’m not profound. I’m a worker bee, and I’m comfortable with that self-identity. I long ago came to terms with being me. Long days at a computer, mostly alone, mostly communicating via email. That’s my bliss. I’m an introvert.

As you might guess, I’m terrible at small talk. I’m terrible at polite social gatherings. I’m mostly terrible with people. And yet, I know, this magazine is more important than me and that requires this monthly letter.

When I was teaching, I would tell my students, Whatever you choose to do with your life, it should feel like your job is curing cancer. Meaning, you should feel like what you are doing matters to humanity. I have been very lucky. Nearly every job I have ever had has felt like a curing cancer job. Running this magazine feels like a curing cancer job and that requires me doing things I wouldn’t normally do, like writing this.

I hope whatever pays your bills feels like a curing cancer job to you as well. Life is too short for anything less. And I promise you, someday, you are going to die, and nobody will care what kind of car you drove.

Kolby Granville – Editor

Now You Know

Gary Charbonneau

Young Love

THE HUMIDITY WAS HIGH on this warm, hazy day. People moved slowly. Many sat on their porches, fanning themselves, with a beverage always within arm’s reach. It was going to be a hot summer in Virginia; they had already broken records. In a small garage in Fairfax County, Jonathon, a twenty-three-year-old law student, was enjoying helping his father restore cars.

Jonathon was a handsome, outgoing and intelligent Black man born only a few miles away. The community knew and liked him. He was brought up to be kind and considerate, and although he was the only child, he was never spoiled—well, maybe a little by his mother.

His father never had the education Jonathon received, but Jonathon said his most thoughtful and profound words came from his dad. His mother was the strong one of the family, level-headed, calm and always able to restore order in heated situations.

Time to go home, boys, Jonathon’s father hollered from the back of the garage. Jonathon put everything away and made his way to the cleaning station where Willie, the mechanic, smiled and asked, Will there be a second anytime soon?

No, we’re going to take a break and revisit this next year, Jonathon replied.

Jonathon and his wife, Aida, had a beautiful nine-month-old girl named Ebony. Their daughter was a bundle of laughter and joy but enough to contend with.

Jonathon and Aida were in high school when they first met; Aida was fourteen and Jonathon fifteen.

Aida was shy. Not like Jonathon, who she thought talked too much, but she tolerated him since he was funny at times. Jonathon made it clear he wanted to date Aida, but she was uncertain until one day she heard from a friend who heard from another friend that a girl liked Jonathon. At that moment Aida realized she had already fallen for him and decided to finally date him. Once their relationship blossomed, they were inseparable. Seven years later, they were married in a small church just a few blocks away.

Aida was a beautiful petite but strong twenty-one-year-old woman. In Amharic, the language of Ethiopia, her home country, Aida meant happy. Every time her dad told someone that her name came from the 1871 Verdi opera, her mom rolled her eyes and reminded him that he’d never even seen an opera. Her dad always bellowed out a laugh because he knew it was true.

Aida and her family had come to the United States from Ethiopia nearly ten years earlier. They left shortly after her grandmother, her Ayate, passed away. Aida was only nine when she and her two brothers arrived home from school to find a large group of people in their house. She knew what had happened; her parents had sat her and her brothers down to prepare them for Ayate being with Ayati soon. Aida remembered being scared and excited about crossing the ocean. Now, things couldn’t be better for her.

Jonathon waved to his dad as he left the garage and said, We’ll see you around six. His dad waved back and turned to finish closing. While Jonathon drove to his mother-in-law’s, all he could think about was picking up Ebony and swinging her around. She loved it. That and when he tickled her belly, her little arms and legs jostling everywhere as she giggled uncontrollably. His thoughts remained on Ebony until his stomach directed his attention to the feast he was about to partake in.

When he’d met Aida, he was introduced to Ethiopian food, and he fell in love. Every bite was an exotic, flavorful dance. His favorite, shiro wat—a ground dried chickpea stew wrapped in injera, a flatbread made from teff flour—was his quintessential delight or magical experience, as he liked to say.

Only a mile up the road, he noticed the magnolias were blooming, so he stopped and grabbed one. Aida loved their sweet candy smell and their wonderful reminder that summer was just around the corner.

Jonathon pulled into the driveway and made his way to the screen door. He peered inside.

Daddy’s here! Aida told Ebony. She picked her up and met Jonathon at the door.

Hi, sweetheart, Jonathon said in a baby voice as he took Ebony in his arms. How’s my little girl?

Jonathon leaned in and kissed Aida. And this is for you, my love, he said as he handed her the flower.

Ahh, thank you. It’s beautiful. Aida took it gently and nestled it above her ear.

How’s everything going? Jonathon asked.

We’re done, Aida said as she turned back to the kitchen. How was your day?

All good. I think we’ll be caught up in a couple of days. Then I can get back to studying. As Jonathon spoke, he made funny faces at Ebony. In a soft baby voice he said, Do you want to help Daddy study? Do you want to be a lawyer too?

Well, we don’t have much time. It’s already five o’clock, and we still have to go home and stop at the store to pick up a few things, Aida said, glancing down at the list of what she needed to bring.

Do you want me to take these, Mama?

Yes, and can you grab those as well? We can bring everything else, her mom replied.

A FEW MINUTES LATER, Jonathon, Aida and Ebony pulled into the grocery store just down the road. Aida stayed in the car with Ebony as Jonathon ran in. Only a short distance away, Dave Morris and his friends drank and smoke as they often did. This group was known for harassing and intimidating Black people and other minorities. Although nothing serious had happened, people tended to stay away from them.

Dave was just under six feet, skinny and rough-looking, with red hair and blue eyes. In the past, Dave had directed some comments toward Aida, but she always ignored him. This time, Dave strolled to the car and tried speaking with her. Aida politely told him that she had to take care of her baby and turned to Ebony in the back seat.

But Dave didn’t leave.

Don’t ignore me. That’s rude.

Aida was still leaning between the seats. I’m sorry, I just have to take care of my baby.

Dave stood back, not sure what to do next, when he noticed Jonathon coming from the store.

As Jonathon approached the car he said, Can I help you with something?

Yeah, your wife isn’t very hospitable, Dave mumbled.

We’re not bothering anyone, Jonathon said as he placed the groceries in the car.

You being here bothers me, Dave said stridently.

Jonathon was about to say something when Aida said, We have to go. We’re running late.

Jonathon gave Dave an unpleasant look as he got in the car. Dave turned and