Challenge 415

Put Those Scissors Down, Babe

In J. B. Hogan’s “Last Contact”:
1. What does the “soul” seem to consist of? In terms of the poem, does it even exist?
2. If the process of life is to eat and be eaten, what is its purpose?
James A. Ford’s “Changelings” raises a question implied by other “doppelganger” or personal-double stories: If someone were replaced by an identical or even a nearly identical duplicate, what difference would it make?

In Slawomir Rapala’s “The Loneliest of Gods”:

Aldous makes essentially the same bargain with the “unnamed god” as Goethe’s Faust makes with Mephistopheles:

Werd’ ich zum Augenblicke sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön!
Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen,
Dann will ich gern zugrunde geh’n!

Should I say to any moment clocked,
“Abide a while, thou art so fair,”
Then you may have me in irons locked,
And my doom I will gladly bear.

Aldous says “tarry” to many moments. How does he demonstrate what Faust foresees: the futility of stopping time?

How is Aldous’ fate decided: by accident or design?
Who is really at the center of the story: Aldous or the Weaver and the “unnamed god”? How do the deities feel about the existential choice Aldous makes? Compare “The Loneliest of Gods” to J. Scott Hardin’s “The Needle,” in issue 412.

In Amy Locke’s “Unlost”:
1. Does the group enter the museum at regular hours or after closing time? What acts of vandalism do they commit? What appears to be their motive? Might readers have any reason to take the intruders’ actions figuratively rather than literally?
2. When the little girl asks the group what they are doing in the museum, they answer “We don’t know. We’re lost.” Are they telling the truth? If so, what do they mean by “lost”?
3. Does the story overstep Bewildering Stories’ guideline against sentimentality, i.e. unearned emotion? Why might it not?
In Kevin Bennett’s “The Keith Papers”:
1. The Guru claims and appears to have paranormal powers and connections — albeit somewhat murky ones — with mythological or even extraterrestrial beings. Why might he exhibit his “wild talents” in what amounts to a traveling circus?
2. How does the Guru’s treatment of Gillian foreshadow and support Keith’s reaction to the Guru’s pimping for the “Nephilim”?
3. The epilogue employs an uncommon but far from unknown narrative device: the interrupted chronicle. Its function as metacommentary on the text makes it essentially comic in nature. However, the story takes the form of a conventional narrative rather than that of a diary or letter. How else might the story end?
In Bruce Memblatt’s “A Cut Above the Rest”:
1. In a small town, how much time would an ambulance and the police need to respond to Becky’s report of a serious accident and an attempted murder?
2. How does Becky know that the scissors are in Madeline’s bedroom?
3. Why does Becky not notice the mannequin when she goes upstairs in Madeline’s house?
4. Dr. Anderson is ethically required to give Madeline no less treatment than he would give any other patient. However, would he be justified in recusing himself and asking another physician to treat Madeline?
5. The story has to take place in a small town rather than a big city. However, Wasilla, Alaska is a real place. How might the residents feel about their town’s being chosen as the setting, rather than a fictional town?

Responses welcome!