The Three Fates of Henrik Nordmark

Longing to break out of his dreary existence, Henrik Nordmark - a bald, middle-aged security guard with few friends and no romantic possibilities - is determined to experience one moment of inimitable distinction, even if it kills him. His quest for authentic experience leads him to the throesof addiction, virtuous recovery, and disenchanted notoriety as a publicmenace. When his attempts at courtship and romance falter, he inadvertently becomes the target of a team of elderly assassins-one blind, one deaf, and the other mute. Alongside his impulsive young office mate Roland, who chucks everything in the mistaken belief that he has won the lottery, Henrik becomes entangled with a pair of star-crossed, disenchanted lovebirds named Bonnie and Clyde who now wantto kill each other. The comic hysteria reaches a crescendo in which Henrik finally realizes his purpose on earth.

Christopher Meades is a writer whose short story "The Walking Lady" won the Advisor's Prize in Fiction from Toyon, the literary magazine of the English department at Humboldt State University, and his story "Serial Thriller" was published in the Vancouver Province as the winning entry in a short story competition sponsored by the newspaper. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.