New Horizons by Max Roy

                    “Down Comes The Sun”* The world we live in, that of the twenty-first century, has some features markedly different from those that have gone before. Growing-up, I remember a society obsessed with spectator sports. I remember people worrying about the fact that we were leaving almost all physical activity outside job performance to the professionals in football, soccer, basketball, tennis, what-have you. Today we see people on our streets carrying out a whole range of physical activities in public and in thousands of gyms. During the pandemic, millions turned to riding stationary bikes in their living rooms. We have become so much more conscious of the necessity of exercising our bodies to stay healthy. And that concern has passed on to efforts to ensure we are exercising our minds, not only on the job, but in other ways in our lives as well. Another thing that has changed markedly is the greater effort we are making to have physical records of our activities.

                                                                        A WORK TIME Bernard woke from his dreamless sleep. It was an entity in a time continuum that took an infinitely small space. It existed only as an idea that could take shape, mass, and life, only when conceptualized by an external power. Only then was there a temporary form of material existence. Only then could Bernard exist with the appearance and form of a material being. Only then could Bernard exist in a body and function with a memory and a purpose. It was a part of a system made up of many others like itself. When called into existence for a purpose, they could be innumerable, a virtual host. Blessed with a purpose, their powers could be of the Infinite to accomplish the tasks assigned. It could influence the environment and the behavior of other living things. Bernard was an angel. Bernard’s agenda and purpose were those instantly implanted in its mind on awakening. It had an individual consciousness. I

                                Summertime        Now that winter is ending, can I still remember? Here we were in our new found land. The sun rose early and set very late. It must have been summer, right? We were up with the birds and out walking along the Sea Wall. Then we went out and about to do our chores, equipping our new apartment. We walked miles into the downtown and back. We believe that that is good for our health, so we walk almost religiously. Usually with a short afternoon nap, and after a late lunch, it is almost time to get down to the beach so we can join the crowds of beautiful people enjoying the gorgeous sunsets we experience almost every day. I was all in a tizzy. We had equipped our new apartment in Vancouver with two massive television screens, one in our living room and the other in the bedroom. Over the objections of my Bride, I insisted that we required them in order to live the kind of live we should. Obviously, it would be much more pleasant if we cou

  The Full Pint Tim wheeled his new Prius into the parking space in front of the Pub. It was O’Doul’s again, the one he had been frequenting lately when he had some time to kill before getting home. It was a ten-minute drive from home, even with the terrible traffic. Sally wouldn’t be there with the kids for at least another hour. She was making regular visits to her mother. Gladys was failing and they were letting the kids spend as much time with her as possible. Sitting there, he had a flash of the children in his mind, wishing he could spend more time with them himself, in spite of the job. The children are the best thing we’ve done with our lives, he thought. It had been a tough week for him too, with his boss pressing everyone harder as the quarter-end was approaching. The crew needed another ten per cent in sales to achieve budget and everyone was pulling out all the stops. They had not been expecting the sudden downturn in business sentiment. Tim gave a big sigh and turned o