Essays, Fiction, Poetry, Memoirs, Humor and Art from the first 12 years of Ducts.org. Ducts.org, one of the first literary magazines on the web, was founded in 1999 and has since grown into a dependable and ambitious resource for readers looking for engaging and thought-provoking essays, memoirs, fiction, poetry, art and humor. In this, our second collection of some of our best, you will spend time with a dangerous SS man in the Warsaw Ghetto, enjoy sensuous cooking, experience a kiss that lasts forever, discover witticisms lost to time and meet The Man Who Ate His Book.

THE MISSING CUB Darcy Fast had a left arm like a bolt of lightning and a calm, confident demeanor. He was built for baseball. He played with Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, and Billy Williams in 1968, and many thought he would be the pitcher to put the Cubs over the top in 1969. But Darcy Fast was not around to see one of the most famous collapses in baseball history. Was he the missing piece, the lefty out of the bullpen that would have propelled the Cubs to the pennant? Perhaps. But on the way to fulfilling his childhood dream, this missing Cub came to realize there was more to life than sport. "Darcy's story is the stuff of dreams. Dreams once realized, and then lost, and then found again. It is, in many ways, a narrative of what every boy growing up dreams, but cannot achieve. More importantly, though, his is a story that could be ours as well. And that's what makes this book a must read. Maybe, just maybe, by reading Darcy's story, you will find your own." Jim Lyon, Senior Pastor-Madison Park Church of God "Darcy Fast is a man of integrity, strength, and is an inspiration to us all. He has fulfilled every young boy's dream, and yet he has ultimately followed a more divine plan: God's plan. His journey is universal to all men." Lyle Overbay, First Baseman-Toronto Blue Jays Darcy Fast has been the senior pastor of Centralia Community Church of God in Centralia, Washington for nearly thirty years. He played professional baseball for the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres and is a lifetime member of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association and the Association of Professional Ball Players of America.