# Short Fiction — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for Short Fiction by R. A. Lafferty.

- [The Six Fingers of Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/the-six-fingers-of-time.md): Charles Vincent, having mastered the ability to accelerate his personal time by a factor of sixty, uses his power to read thousands of books, learn dozens of languages, and play ghostly pranks on the world. He is haunted
- [McGonigal's Worm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/mcgonigal-s-worm.md): The chapter describes the global catastrophe of sudden infertility affecting all chordates, the discovery that only McGonigal's Worm remains fertile, and the establishment of the M.W. Institute to study it. It follows Ge
- [The Polite People of Pudibundia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/the-polite-people-of-pudibundia.md): Marlow learns about the extraordinarily polite alien species known as the Puds from a briefing officer, who explains their customs of never looking directly at others, using color-coded glasses, and speaking in elaborate
- [In the Garden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/in-the-garden.md): The crew of the Little Probe lands on a moon-town and encounters a man and woman, Ha-Adamah and Hawwah, in a pristine garden. The beings claim to be the only people, possess a preternatural intellect, and live in perfect
- [All the People](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/all-the-people.md): Anthony Trotz, a man who suddenly knows every person in the world, interviews a politician, a philosopher, and a priest to understand the limits of human knowledge and connection. He is confronted by Colonel Peter Cooper

> 9 more chapter companions — [open a free preview](https://www.betterreads.dev/reader?bookId=short_fiction_45_se_458kb&preview=1) to unlock the rest.

- [The Weirdest World](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/the-weirdest-world.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/i.md)
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [Aloys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/aloys.md)
- [Seven-Day Terror](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/seven-day-terror.md)
- [Dream World](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/dream-world.md)
- [Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/sodom-and-gomorrah-texas.md)

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters