PRODIGAL'S CHAIR
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this is pc #5:
the choice & chance issue

"Is your destiny yours to create, or are you, to quote Mongo from Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, 'only pawn in game of life'?"
Is your destiny yours to create, or are you, to quote Mongo from Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, "only pawn in game of life"?

Maybe it's both?

We are told that Romeo and Juliet were "star-crossed lovers" — their fate spelled out in bold strokes against the inky night sky before they even laid eyes on one another. It may be true that chance, or "fortune" as Romeo claimed, set events in motion that were beyond his ability to control. He and Benvolio did just happen to run into a hapless Capulet servant who needed help deciphering a guest list. But you could argue that it was this servant's choice to invite the two gentlemen to his master's party, along with their decision to go that set events in motion. 

The rest of the play follows a similar bent, with chance presenting characters with choices; the plot being recklessly driven forward by the decisions they make.

Real life can be like this, too.

People can be caught in a whirlwind of someone else's creation (chance), with the outcome resting not on another person's actions, but our own (choice). Or maybe you've made a choice you regret? Or took a chance that paid off beyond your wildest imaginings.

Choice and chance. Destiny and determination. Fate and free will. These are the congruent themes that run through Issue #5 of Prodigal's Chair
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Header art by T. Guzzio. Original photo by S. Collis.

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LEAVE BEFORE THE LIGHTS COME ON

THIS SHORT-SHORT STORY BY TOM GUZZIO LOOKS AT HOW SOMETIMES, WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT IT, CHANCE CHOOSES US. 

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STURDY BLACK SHOES

CATHY WEISS REFLECTS ON SOUP, SYSTEMS, AND LIFE LESSONS SHE LEARNED FROM HER GRANDMOTHER.

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GRAND CONUNDRUM: AVERTING DISASTER IN GARDEN CREEK CANYON

CHRISTOPHER MATTERA TAKES US INTO THE MAJESTIC, YET DANGEROUS WORLD HIDDEN WITHIN THE GRAND CANYON.

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INDIANA JONES & THE STONES OF EL JUICIO

TOM GUZZIO'S ESSAY LOOKS AT CASTING AS A METAPHOR FOR WHAT'S WRONG WITH CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY.

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IN THE STREET

CECILY POLLARD SHARES "DECISIVE MOMENTS" SEEMINGLY DESTINED TO BE CAPTURED BY HER CAMERA'S EYE.

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THERE IS NO END TO LOVE

READ HOW THREE BUBBLES ON A SCANTRON CHANGED KATIE SIMINGTON'S TRAJECTORY BY BRINGING AN INDOMITABLE SOUL INTO HER ORBIT.

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IT WAS PROBABLY A MIRACLE

NATE SOUSA LOOKS AT THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS, PROBABILITY, AND THE PERILS OF MODERN FANDOM.

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ISSN 2378-5268
  • NOTES FROM THE OVERGROUND
  • MY COVID-19 SOUNDTRACK
  • ABOUT PC
  • PAST ISSUES