A collection of fifteen original stories from musician/author Jeff Willoughby, who lists his influences as Rod Serling, O. Henry, Shirley Jackson, Gene Roddenberry, Kurt Vonnegut, Larry Niven, Stephen King, Carl Sagan and many others. The book is illustrated with original photographs and artwork. Also included are three story contributions and a collaboration from Rebecca Lynn Willoughby. The stories included in This Side of Center take you on a journey where... "Across the Universe" The British Music Invasion of the 1960's happens but without The Beatles leading the charge, and John Lennon struggles to make sense of a life that centers around gardening for a living while all his friends make music and move on to fame and fortune. "The Cure for Death" Bringing the dead back to life has become the latest trending industry and socio-cultural phenomenon in the United States. And it's all strictly controlled by the federal government. What could possibly go wrong? "The Song" A tormented, young girl is obsessively compelled to create and share beautiful art that mirrors the world around her - even if it means enduring daily pain as a consequence. "That's Life " An inter-dimensional long range probe records and translates a conversation between two entities in a mysterious area of space/time known as The Void. They are heard to discuss in amusing detail what awaits one of them should it decide to be born as a human being. "A Beautiful Day for an Execution" With the advent of time travel, reality TV shows take on a whole new level of entertainment when a popular program takes the viewing audience back in time to witness famous executions throughout history - live as they happened. "The Promised Land" At 127 years of age, the last living citizen of the former United States of America, is invited to his hometown university to speak about his once-great nation's fall into a state of complete and total societal and economic collapse. But more interestingly he describes its transformation back into a new and very different country. "Snapshot" (Co-written with Rebecca L. Willoughby) A woman re-mortgages her home to pay for three trips back in time to 1968 to get the one photo that she thinks will define what her deceased husband had once said was the happiest time in his life. "Savior" (by Rebecca L. Willoughby) A disturbed young woman tries to find peace of mind by doing all the 'right' things, ending up in all the wrong places. "Ee-I-Ee-I-O" Life, and even the threat of death, look amusingly the same through the eyes of a four-year-old child. Inspired by an actual event. "God's Work Is Never Done" Avid church-goer and community advocate, Miriam, never doubted her lot in life was doing "God's work" until she meets a mysterious stranger who just moved to her hometown. These stories and more like them await you in This Side of Center. About The Book The stories in this collection are all original and have never before been published, written during the period from 1995 to the present. All illustrations are original works and were created or chosen specifically for this book. All were created spanning a period from 1985 to the present. This Side of Center asks you to take a step across the center line and view life in a funhouse mirror, through wide and narrow lenses, from above and below, inside and out, in the light and in the very dark. The stories are told through different human perspectives but are still about us. And the last page, in this case, does not mean the same thing as the end.