Opus 19: A Collection of 19 Original Short Stories to Uplift the Human Psyche Affected by COVID 19 Pandemic

By: Brian Whelihan

OPUS 19 consists of nineteen self-contained stories. Some are completely fictional, some are completely nonfictional, and others are a mix. Each story is associated with what the author calls a Ficto-Meter, which designates an approximate percentage fictional, and therefore nonfictional content. In describing all of the stories, they are created from actual experiences or fictional accounts derived from real situations or are derived from lessons that we learn throughout life. Many of them leave the reader with nostalgically provocative thoughts about life. Some are just plain funny. The fictional story of the origin of the word woman is an amusing story about how life might have been 15,000 years ago while the story about how shoes wind up on the roadside is so real and convincing that readers will be looking for shoes on the road. The stories in OPUS 19 are amusing (Flies, Church), provocative (Car, Children, Ton and Speech), nostalgic (Bees), and amazingly true (JFK, Cigarettes, Fish, Simultaneous, Cockroach). Curiosity is a true story of an unlikely experience within a controversial time. The inspiration for these stories came in large part from the grip of the pandemic virus and the opportunity for introspection that came along with it. The author's hope is that the readers of these stories will have their hearts warmed, their brains stimulated, and perhaps even laugh out loud.

About the Author

Brian Whelihan lives in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, a small but historic town north of Milwaukee. Living in Wisconsin and Illinois for most of his life, his professional accomplishments include practicing analytical chemistry and tutoring youngsters in math and chemistry. His love of history and topics outside of science drew him to taking classes at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where he started to develop the right side of his brain. Finding that he enjoyed writing, Brian went into his mind looking for interesting experiences and amusing thoughts. When the pandemic of COVID-19 struck, he decided to share these experiences and hopefully amusing stories in this book.