Perhaps you’ve heard about the celestial peace offering the universe will gift us as 2020 approaches an eagerly awaited end. On December 21st – yes, the winter solstice – the planets Jupiter and Saturn align close enough in the night sky that the conjunction will appear as one ultra-bright star. Such an astronomical anomaly has not occurred in almost 800 years, back during the time of Knights Templar and the Crusades, Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire. The phenomenon is also know as the Christmas Star, suggesting a similar (albeit apocryphal) heavenly occurrence led the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem.

This exceptional event brought back memories of my earliest experience of narrative writing. At the age of eleven or so, I wrote and staged nativity plays in our basement with my three siblings and the three daughters of close family friends. As a good Methodist boy who attended Sunday school…

Amsterdam, 1998. On the way home after an evening of pinball, pool, and porn at my local gay watering hole, I stop at a snack bar called The Penguin for a late-night bite to eat. I order my favorite Dutch treat – a kaassouffle (deep fried cheese) – and while I wait, strike up a flirtatious conversation with the attractive young guy behind the counter. All of a sudden, he gives me a quizzical look.

“I know you,” he says.

“I don’t think so,” I say. Although I’d like to get to know you, I don’t say.

“Yeah. I recognize your voice.” He grins from ear to ear. “You read those dirty stories on the radio.”

My cheeks blush bright red, dooming any attempt to deny the truth.

“You listen to Alien?”

“Every Sunday,” he says with a wink. “Sometimes customers stick around so they can hear the end. You’ve…