I'm tempted to reply to that bit about the two guys blocking her way, but I think I'll leave it.
Yoko Kanno -- for mine it's "The Real Folk Blues." The way that music swells and recedes and swells again makes it an emotional and beautiful piece of music, words or no. Man, I love that song.
I thought this was a pretty flat piece. A thin patina of sci-fi to frame a story about change and generations. Really, it could have been set at any place in any time and not lost the message / feelings it tried to convey. Understand me: I'm not making a "this isn't sci-fi" play because, as I said, that's the chosen framework for this particular story, which is fine. It's just I thought it was a bit clunky and overly dramatic, what with the kitchen fire and all. And, "I've tried to keep to the spirit of McDon McDougal's"? I find that laughable. Sorry to be a little dour about this one but it didn't do much for me.
That said, a good Steve-quality reading, as ever.