The Master Poses with a Terrifying Creature

I’m happy and honored to report that my 42-word story The Master Poses with a Terrifying Creature is part of the anthology Book of 42² published in November of 2024. The anthology was compiled by B. A. Mullin and comprises 1764 ultrashort stories in 42 genres, such as Alternate Reality, Apocalyptic, Crime, Culture, Romance, Steampunk, Tragedy, Vampire and Western, to name just a few.

My story is story #6 in Chapter 5, Culture.

My biography (also 42 words long) says:

Leonard Blumfeld, a character sprung from a story by Franz Kafka, is the only contributor of the World So Wide blog and has published a book of poetry and short prose, Best of Meme (2008), and 101 (2014, haiku and fibonacci poems).

The story was inspired by the following photo by French photographer Robert Doisneau (1912-1994) from 1952:

Instant recognition

Meryl Streep with the
most outlandish hat ever
and Klaus Maria Brandauer,
white-hatted colonial style,
among black people
speaking Italian on TV 
in a Roman bar. Well,
if it ain’t Out of Africa!

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2025)

Notes
Based on genuine recent experience during a walk.
Refers to the 1985 movie Out of Africa starring Meryl Streep as Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), Klaus Maria Brandauer and Robert Redford, which won 7 (!) Academy awards. It's weathered a bit – somehow I don’t believe it would win that many awards nowadays.

The Rose of the San Joaquin

Tom Russell, The Rose of the San Joaquin

Retrieved from my CD shelf and enjoyed listening to it immensely.

Versos sencillos

Was going to listen to I want you
by Bob Dylan

Then was offered Mañana
by Sílvia Pérez Cruz

And that one’s going by my ears
right now

That’s what’s happening thanks to 
electricity, electronics and YouTube

On this fourth day of January in 2025,
a Saturday with time to spend on things

Much more pleasant than work

– Leonardo Blumfeld (© 2024)

Afterword
Guess what’s next? I want you ... so baaad.