Cold, metallic roar

by Warren Grace

The last little girl in the world reclines on her porch and basks in the sun.

She hears a sound…

Excited yet?

The seven types of Foreshadowing

(Editorial)

1. Dogmatic irony.
Example: “Never have consensual sex with sheep.”

It can be expected that by the end of this story somebody will have consensual sex with a sheep—at least once and only after several dates.

2. Mentioning a thing.
Example: “There's this thing.”

This is usually mentioned on the first page. Then naturally the thing will be used on the last page after the lady-bounty-hunter's sexual promiscuity is discovered by her vampire lover: “She uses the thing—remember that thing?—she uses it to apologize to Eripmav.”

3. Esoteric coding.
Example: “As the engine turned over, she yawned.”

The engine turning over should signal to the reader that this story will turn out to be a satire of the meat packing industry and none of the action or characters matters.

4. Blithe song and dance numbers.
Example: “Ray, a drop of golden sun!”

A suicide bomber runs in shouting that he's changed his ways and he wants to work toward peaceful solutions to the world's problems. Then his bomb detonates. You should have seen that one coming.

5. Creating numbered lists.
Example: “The seven types of Foreshadowing”

I just raped a lamb.