Terry Bisson

'Bears Discover Fire' is the strange tale of a lonely man, his aging mother, his curious nephew, and a family of bears that have discovered how to use fire.

After years of investigation, an alien meets with his partner in a diner to discuss an unbelievably shocking discovery.

"Tallahatchie Bridge": With those two simple words, the powerful images of a lost innocence, a murky river and a mysterious suicide spring to mind. Scorning the demands of her overbearing family, Bobbie Lee Hartley and Billy Joe McAllister meet at their usual Choctaw Ridge trysting place and attempt to consumate their forbidden love. Ode attempts to reconcile modern moralites with a tradition-bound faith, and asks whether it's possible to commit a sin against a religion that won't even have you as a member.