Challenge 939 Response

Bewildering Stories discusses...

Papak’s Midwinter Kiss

with John Haymaker

In John Haymaker’s Papak’s Midwinter Kiss: Do any of the characters have any serious regrets?

I witnessed, or believe to this day that I witnessed, all the characters — Papak, the fire dancer, Kendra, Ryan, their friends, the manager, the 17-year old and her parents as well as most of the events detailed in “Papak’s Midwinter Kiss” — during my own vacation in the Caribbean. I don’t know that Papak actually worked as a model for any fashion house, but he gave me the sense that he certainly wanted to and could.

Do any of the characters in the story have any regrets? Yes, absolutely. I saw firsthand Kendra and Ryan go through days of intense, tearful meetings, such as the one described behind the pump house. Both were filled with regret, but both were seemingly intent on resolving their issue. My imagining is they would come back together, but in same changed form.

I did see Ryan and Papak sharing a drink a few days later. What else transpired between those two is purely my imagining. And. oh yes, I have my regrets, regrets of not being on the beach that night with them.

Do the fire dancer or Papak have regrets? I doubt it. They seemed positively to thrive preying on troubled relationships. In any case, the fire dancer had already moved on to another island the very next day and surely lighted more fires around the islands.

Would Papak have regrets? Whether a fashion house employee sent to rile up affluent crowds or simply working for his own gratification, Papak’s sort of character is too self-involved to regret satisfying himself by any means.

[Don Webb] Thank you for the explanation, John, it’s much appreciated! Some readers felt the characters in the story were real people, but everybody implicitly assumed you had deliberately brought the characters together in the same place and time. But no, the scenario actually occurred as described. The story gives readers a “slice of life” of a perhaps unusual Caribbean vacation with colors light and dark.

Sorry for the delay in posting this Challenge Response. I thought it had already appeared. Now I’m glad I double-checked the Archive when I rediscovered it.