A couple of guys slurp beer and ponder the fate of Native Americans. A Marine Corporal stows away on a navy ship, bound for Cuba. There are sailing stories and there is poetry; and a woman's long love affair with a desert by the sea. There is heartbreak on a sultry night, and I, the writer, hope that each story can stand on its own, without leaning on what came before, or after. Are these stories fact or fiction? You, the reader, can decide.