The Lodestar Contest

1. This story is set during the depression years. A man with a large family has lost his job along with thousands of others. He needs to make money. There is a car race being advertised with prize money. Joe, the father is a good driver. He doesn’t have a car but agrees to drive in the race for the owner of a racing car. The race is dangerous and many drivers have been killed and Joe’s wife pleads to him to not enter the race. (What happens next?)

2. This story is set in China. The year 2019. The main character, a woman, works in a wet market where different sorts of animals are sold for human consumption. Her husband catches bats and she cooks them to sell at the market.
She knows bats carry a virus but believes the cooking process will kill off any virus. Her cat jumps on the kitchen table and eats scraps of raw bat. The cat becomes ill and bites the woman from the market. (What happens next?)