Scenarios

Finals are over and the campus is empty except for the students who could not go home, and two of them, you and one other, have found the way onto the roof of the oldest building. There is a thermos, a blanket, and a...

A mountain hostel has lost its road to the snow and the bus is not coming for three days. There are eleven guests, and one of them has appointed themselves the kitchen. You have been handed a knife and a bag of onions...

The station runs on volunteers after midnight, and tonight the two of you have the studio, a wall of records, and a phone line that rings once an hour with the same insomniac. Your co-host has a theory about the caller....

A relative you never met has left a houseboat jointly to you and a stranger, on the condition that you both live aboard for a year before either can sell. Your co-heir arrived first and has already named the boat. The...

A local paper has sent you to review a restaurant so bad it has become a landmark, and the only other diner is a regular who has eaten here every Thursday for nine years. They insist you order the special. The special...

The relief boat has left you on a rock in the North Atlantic with one other keeper, three months of provisions, and a logbook that says a great deal about the weather and very little about the last two keepers. Your...

Every Sunday you sell what you make at the same stall, and every Sunday the person across the aisle sells something completely different and watches your customers as closely as their own. Today they have come over with...

The storm has closed the streets, and the owner of the bookshop has locked the door and gone upstairs to sleep, leaving you and one other customer with the kettle and the whole shop. The power is out. You have found the...

A research post on a frozen moon needs two people to keep the instruments honest, and the supply ship comes twice a year. Your posting starts today. The person you are replacing was supposed to leave on the ship that...