Bewildering Stories discusses...
Knock-Knock
with Cheryl Wood Ruggiero
Challange 850: In Cheryl Wood Ruggiero’s Knock-Knock, why might one suspect that the space aliens are indulging in a joke of their own by pretending to know less than they do?
[Cheryl W. R.] I’m glad you picked up on the way the aliens are having fun with Gracie. I didn’t want her to become aware of it, but I wanted the reader to. I hoped “Say goodnight, Gracie” would be the clue, if nothing else was. Of course, that requires the reader to know the old George Burns and Gracie Allen routine. I hope most readers will.
[Don Webb] An Associate Editor has sent a compliment, which includes: “There’s something very human about that, something that rings very true to me. I really enjoyed reading the interchange of phrases and the attempts at communication.”
Not everyone today will have lived at the time of the Golden Age of Radio and remember Burns & Allen. However, space aliens at a distance of about 70 light-years will just be tuning in to the show, because Earth has made Sol a radio nova.
At any rate, the space aliens that Gramma Grace and Liss contact have been listening long enough to understand word-play jokes in English. And that means they have advanced proficiency in the language. What to conclude but that they’re putting Grace and Liss on and having some fun of their own with them.
Thanks for sharing the fun, Cheryl!
