Bill W

Incongruity comes from the Latin word Incongruus, which is a combination of in- ("not") and congruus ("suitable, proper") and the Middle French word Incongruité The word "incongruity" means something that is out of place or doesn't fit in its situation. For example, you might describe burping at the dinner table as incongruous behavior. The earliest known use of the word "incongruity" was in the mid-1500s. The word "incongruous" and its antonym, "congruous", both first appeared in English in the early 1580s.

OMG, they've got technical skills as well! 😵

Anachronism comes from the Greek roots ana- which means "against" and khronos- which means "time." Together they represent a situation in which something happens that should not because it belongs to another time period. The earliest known use of the word "anachronism" in English was in 1617 in a sermon by John Hales, the Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford. An anachronism from the Bible: Abraham is portrayed as having camels, yet camels were not domesticated until a thousand years later4. He is said to come from “Ur of the Chaldees”, yet the city of Ur was in southern Mesopotamia and the Chaldeans did not occupy the region until about 1000 BC. Parachronism is a type of anachronism that occurs when something from the past is placed in a futuristic or modern setting. In other words, parachronism is when a modern setting uses a person, object, or technology that doesn't fit because it is considered outdated (e.g., a typewriter in a modern office setting).

Interesting read, although at times I was confused if this was modern fiction or historical fiction. The mention of Jason driving an older Saturn and Tom hiding out in an Airstream threw me off, since I didn't know Airstream RVs are still being made - I thought they were only something from my past. Even the mention of more modern references didn't help, such as cell phone (could have been anytime since the 1940s with the big, bulky models, to the newer versions from the mid-70s until now). The mention of tablets didn't help either (because they might have been references to the old paper type with cardboard covers) and the mention of the chatrooms didn't help either (since they've also been around since the mid-70s). Almost every reference might have fit a current situation or anything up to 50 years ago. It was an enjoyable read though, so I just went with the words and didn't try to place them in time, deciding instead to just enjoy the story line and the well-crafted descriptions of the scenery.

If you're open minded and enjoy reading about alternative realities, then this short story is for you. A military leader named Callim is leading his troops against an army of demons to prevent them from being able to invade the earth. If you've ever wondered how military leaders can send men into battle, knowing many of them won't return and others will return but never be the same again, then this story will give you a glimpse at how this military leader deals with that knowledge and those fears.

The brutality of war, no mater who or what the foe is, can definitely leave scars, as well as shadows and memories that will hunt you for years to come. This was an interesting world and an unusual battle, which you describes splendidly. In this brutal setting, with death and destruction all around, it was only Maris who could lift the shadows from Callim's soul. Thank you, Cia, for this wonderful short story.

Thank you, @mikedup, @weinerdog, @Gary L, @chris191070, @wenmale64, @davewri, @drsawzall, @akascrubber, @Flip-Flop, and @lucretiaseeks for reading my tribute to Carlos and commenting on it. As weinerdog pointed out, 2024 was a very difficult year because we lost both Carlos and Comicality, and now I've written the two tributes to Carlos, this one and the story in "Long May You Run", and I'll be submitting my tribute to Comicality in the April tribute to him.

That's an interesting prediction, but will they get close enough to discover which one it might be?

If you enjoy a well written drama/mystery with endearing characters and a moving, sensitive, and touching storyline, then this story is for you. It's an easy read and will keep you involved until the very end, and I predict that you won't soon forget about Teddy or Rose.

Val, I'm going back and trying to catch up on the stories I didn't have time to read before, so I apologize for being so late to finding this story. It was beautifully written, with wonderfully believable characters, and a fantastic storyline. I was impressed that Jeremiah and Marshall listened to Teddy and were willing to check out the information he was telling them, rather than rushing him off to a psychologist or psychiatrist. It's too bad Rod Serling wasn't still alive, because I'm sure he would have wanted to turn this story into an episode of "The Twilight Zone". It would rate up there with the episode, "The Changing of the Guard". When I was six or seven, I told my grandmother (who raised me) something after we'd just returned from a Fourth of July fireworks display. When I was older, she told me I explained that I remembered seeing fireworks before that night, but it was a long time ago. She said I described being in a large open room on the upper floor of the building and looking out the huge widow at the rockets exploding in the air. When she asked me if I knew where I was when that happened, she said I told her it was in New York City, but a really long time ago, and everybody was dressed up in costumes, like it was Halloween, but their costumes were all kind of alike. She said I also told her that I overheard two men talking and one said, "General Washington will make a fine President." I didn't remember any of that as she recounted what I'd said, but I did remember watching fireworks from an older style building I'd never seen before. I wouldn't have remembered any of this if she hadn't mentioned that episode to me when I was 25, and it's kind of haunted me ever since - did that really happen or was it just something I'd made up at the time, but where would I have learned all of that when I was six or seven?

A sophomore in high school (grade 10) moves to a new area and is immediately harassed by a gorgeous guy in his grade. Even though this story starts out like many other stories, you'll be surprised by how it plays out. It's a great read, with awesome characters, and a fantastic premise, so give it a read and I believe you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Steve, sorry it took me so long to get to this, but I'm now trying to catch up on my reading. This is a great story with awesome characters and a fantastic premise. It stands alone well, but I would like some follow up as well. Does Jason protect Todd from the bigots and bullies from now on? The sleepovers should be interesting as well and I'd like to hear about them. Jason's the alpha-male with lots of friends, so does he introduce Todd to all of them? You need to write a follow-up, because inquiring minds want to know. 😜

Great start, interesting characters, believable premise, but it ended way to soon. As the others have said, there needs to be many more chapters so Harold and Justin (if that's his real name) can explore their options. Do us all a favor and write more, so as Justin would say, so we can check off a few more boxes.

Found it on Microsoft Bing, and as you probably already know, Chronoscopy is borrowed from Greek, combining the Greek word "χρόνος" (time) with the English suffix "-scope" The earliest known use of the noun chronoscopy is in the 1880s. OED's only evidence for chronoscopy is from 1882, in Popular Science Monthly.

I tried to Google chronoscopy to see what I could find out, but nothing came up except colonoscopy. That should tell you how often the word gets used.

Beautifully done. Carlos would be honored after reading this.

Carlos would be pleased by your effort after reading this story. Nicely done!

Awesome start, but you left us hanging. I hope you're planning to write some follow-up chapters and continue this story.

Conrad lived in the borough of Queens with his long-time partner, Josh, and during a snowstorm his husband passed away. Conrad was grief-stricken and it took him a long time to recover, and during that time he relived memories of when he and Josh had been together. When winter rolled around again, he decided that he was tired of the cold and made plans to spend time with friends, a married couple, that had moved to Florida. If you want to find out what happened there, you'll have to read the story, and you won't regret that decision.

Chris, losing a loved one and then having them urge you to start over would have totally freaked me out. 😵 However, I enjoyed this story and wish to thank you for sharing it with us.

If you like mysteries and detective stories, this is a short story that moves along nicely and is an easy read. You probably should check it out.

As Mac said previously, she nags at people until she gets them to do exactly what she wants.

Both of your comments are on point - nothing good comes from anything with red eyes, and overweight people generally are aware of their condition. However, sometimes it's difficult to convince those trying to get them to lose weight, even if it's a doctor doing the harping, to realize they might be doing more harm than good. Happy New Year to you as well. May 2025 be kind to each of us.

Short and sweet, with some unanswered questions remaining, so maybe we'll find the answer to those in future stories. I enjoyed it, Lee.

I know. I already researched all of that information, if that gives you a hint.