All Brave Astrolites

What is an Astrolite? The first part, Astro, comes from the Greeks and lifts our gazes to the stars. A hoplite, also Greek in origin, is an infantry soldier, heavy with armor, shield, and spear. Therefore, an Astrolite is a warrior among stars, floating weightless through infinite space.

Well, maybe.

Some say it is a misspelling and that the original word was Astralite. Not Astro but the Latin Astral. The definition of the two is mostly identical, although there is a subtle distinction.

Astral possesses a secondary meaning: a superior dimension, invisible to the senses, connected to (and penetrating) our hearts and emotions. So, perhaps an Astralite is a warrior of inner space, a paladin of the heart who battles the shadows of his or her own crude nature…

I hope that, like the duality of the term, this sundry collection of stories has something of both worlds (and a little something that’s purely absurd). But, above all, I hope that you find the experience of reading it enjoyable. Anything else is extra credit.