Merloy: Stories

This thesis is a collection of two interlinked narratives that take place in the small town of Merloy, Tennessee, a fictionalized version of my hometown Byrdstown and its surrounding areas. A traveling musician wanders into Merloy in “The Ballad of Eddy Cage” which leaves a lasting impact on a young groundskeeper named Cal Norman as he figures out the culprit behind the vandalization of a local park. In “Terrestrial,” Kip Dillard uncovers the secret behind a supposed UFO sighting while also dealing with the overlap of his person and professional lives. The mysteries in this collection are both external and internal.