A collection of widely varied short stories with tongue-in-cheek humor and irreverent social commentary. Story 1, A Lad's Christmas: A jaded Santa has to get through a particularly rough Christmas. Story 2, Travel Writer: A young couple on their first trip break rule number one: Never leave the tourist route. Story 3, TUDM. Story 4, Space War: A young platoon captain fighting on a distant planet has to keep her troops together in the face of unexpected alien developments. Story 5, Slavakia: A lonely woman meets someone new on a desert planet. Story 6, Greedy City and Konjac Rock: A backpacking kid comes across an easy way to get money. Story 7, Latakia the Witch: A boy winds up as a helper to a “witch”.