Allan Smulling

John Walker, an average family man is shot in the head during a mass shooting at a mall. While in a six-month long coma he dreams of a different life in which his family was killed in the incident, and he survived.

Upon waking, John has trouble determining which ‘life’ is more real and works with a therapist to become more grounded. The problem is John has already lost and grieved for his family during those six months. To him, they’ve already died. What motivates him now is revenge.

I found this to be a very fast and disturbingly entertaining story with a Philip K. Dick vibe. I particularly enjoyed the epistolary type of storytelling using the therapist’s patient notes as the story unfolds. The writing is tight and would make an excellent comic/movie. The story packs a satisfying punch in very few pages.