Challenge 718

Two Heads or Three?

In Andreea Daia’s “The Price of Remembering,” at what point might the reader realize that “you” is the narrator herself?
In Ásgrímur Hartmannsson’s “The Incredible Machine”
1. Does the story overstep BwS’ guideline about gratuitous gore? Do the various bystanders’ eviscerations have a function beyond indicating that the aliens are a threat?
2. What other ending might you choose?
In Mira Spindler’s “Old Pointy Bones and Big Ears”:
1. Why is Big Ears’ daughter called “Girl” while her son is “Special Boy”? Does the distinction have a function in the story?
2. What is the function of Husband in the story? Does Big Ears have a husband?
3. How might the two animals represent the women’s personalities?
4. Might Ricracrex be related to Cerberus or, perhaps, to Orthrus, a two-headed version who guarded the cattle of the monster Geryon?
5. At the end, Old Pointy Bones is said to be “ready.” Ready for what or ready to do what?
In Bill Prindle’s “Somewhere Beyond the Sea”:
1. Michael tells a teacher that a story that he hasn’t read is “stupid.” What is he saying about his own life?
2. Michael surmises that he and his father may have traveled in time to 1918, or that the Clements and their island may have come to their own future. Considering the dark turn that Michael’s life takes, what might be a third possibility?