A couple years ago, on a blog far, far away, I invited readers to send me a word or phrase that I could use as the basis for a short story. Readers sent me words like “cheesecake” and “dragonfly” and “rick-rack.” I wrote a story for each. But there was this one reader who thought it would be funny to send me more than one word. Here was her list: pus-oozing scabs maggot-infested corpses lightning bugs Hello Kitty band-aids Silver Queen corn a kite-flying windy day in March chocolate cake tiramisu sargassum tea Hershey’s Kisses flying monkeys a white tiger transistor radios I told her I could write a story…