Challenge 374

Penny Aforethought

In Mark Kiewlak’s “Dreams About the Sky”:
1. What is the function of the picnic sandwiches? Is their being peanut butter and jelly comical or symbolic in some way?
2. The story is “open-ended.” How do you picture it ending? Does Manuel sprout wings and soar like the eagle? If so, is there anything in the story to indicate it might be a hidden fantasy? Or does he plummet to his death on the rocks below? If so, is he suicidal or delusional?
3. At the end, is Lucy suffering from Stockholm syndrome?
Is Antonio Bellomi’s “The Healer” a story or a vignette?
In Colin Lee Heintze’s “In the Valley of Hermits”:
1. Only one character, Chalc, is named; the others are designated by their status, e.g. “Grandfather,” and “the girl.” Does Chalc have a name because he is an outsider while the others have no names because of their tribe’s paranormal ability? Or would all the characters benefit from having names?
2. In what way are The People depicted as noble savages?
3. The People’s telepathy is a mixed blessing. What seem to be its drawbacks?
In John P. Cater’s “The High-Desert Incident,” the alien space boat seems to have unaccountably missed a bet: most of Earth is covered by water. Even if the aliens needed fresh water only, where else might they have landed?
Marc D. Ruvolo’s “Monkey Deity” appears to be a satire of television entertainment. Even if the program titles were not slightly encrypted, to what extent would the story be culturally intelligible to other than the cognoscenti? For example, Harlan Ellison’s “Jeffty Is Five” is a paean to the golden age of radio. How accessible is the story to readers too young to have listened to the programs he cites at great length?
In Channie Greenberg’s “Outcursed,” does the title give the story away? Is the conclusion comic, tragic, or grotesque?
If readers started Robert N. Stephenson’s Uttuku with chapter 19, what plot details would they miss?

Responses welcome!