Pub games an old woman with a clay pipe in her mouth, or subsequently a ball on a stick. The object was for players to throw sticks at the head in order to break the pipe. The game bears some resemblance to a coconut shy, or skittles. Today, the game of Aunt Sally is still played as a pub game in Oxfordshire. The ball is on a short plinth about 4 inches (10 cm) high, and is known as a 'dolly'. The dolly is placed on a dog-legged metal spike and players throw sticks or short battens at the dolly, trying to
In the Mouth of the Whale The story is told from the point of view of three characters. The first, the Child, believes she lives in a village in the conflict-torn Amazon. She becomes transfixed by a mysterious boy with the head of the jaguar but in reality, her world is part of an elaborate, failing, simulation created on a damaged starship that is finally on the verge of reaching Fomalhaut. The crew created the simulation based on her experiences of life before the Quiet War and hold her in high regard, however, those already at Fomalhaut already know of her impending arrival. The second, Ori,