Ever wonder what might happen if an astronaut shut down a 500-year-old hurricane? Or why an exotic dancer would go to a Chinese restaurant to find a new tomorrow? What does a sheepherder celebrating a night on the town have in common with a high society gatecrasher? Can you beat a fine for poaching Christmas trees in California? Why would Dr. Watson lash out at his old friend Sherlock Holmes? How does a twelve-year-old talk her kidnappers out of murder? What secret lies behind a locked door that not even the homeowner can penetrate? How could Scottish poet Robert Burns, dead 200 years, cause an American medical student to become a writer for a faux French food journal? Why does plucking ear hairs become addictive? Can an outspoken maven get any respect on the last night of her life? You'll find out the offbeat, the thought-provoking, and the hilarious answers to these and many more of life's compelling questions from the 61 short stories and poems found in "Message in a Fortune Cookie."

Steve Pulley's second volume of 48 short stories, poems, and true-life adventures offers an offbeat, frequently hilarious look into the human (and sometimes alien) foibles of coping with our strange and confusing times. Whether fixing a diabolical bathroom toilet, deciphering the dictionary, smelling Earth flowers from an alien point of view, perfecting bean stew, announcing the end of the world, abducting a homecoming queen, fleeing the ultimate reality show, surviving the office party, searching out the Holy Grail, confronting hoi polloi move-ins, stepping into someone else's shoes to the hilt, campaigning for governor, or hunting down ferocious gorillas in an asparagus patch, Pulley usually manages to conjure up a bizarre and funny perspective.