Short Story was written in September and October 2000 for She-e Wu. Ms. Wu premiered the work at the Percussive Arts Society European Convention in Paris on November 4, and gave the first American performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Dallas on November 17. I am indebted to She-e not only for her editorial assistance, but also for our many of collaborative meetings -- real and virtual -- during which her input was essential to the creation of this work.

After spending the summer of 2000 reading short stories by many contemporary writers, I became fascinated with one method of story telling I found again and again. A story opens with a captivating and improbable event, and the remainder of the work describes how that event came to be. Short Story is my own interpretation of that particular story-telling process.

-- R. C.