Challenge 919

Over the Bridge

1. In Ralph E. Shaffer’s Return to the Bridge:

   1. Where is the town of “Independence” apparently located?
   2. Why might it be significant that “Rick” and “Ilse” are also the names of two main chararcters in the film Casablanca?
   3. How many years did Sister Mary wait before giving Ilse’s medal to Rick?
   4. Why does Rick toss Ilse’s medal into the stream? Why doesn’t he retain it as a keepsake?

2. In H. E. Vogl’s Buried Memories:

   1. What is the significance of the shape of the “starlike fracture” in the skull recovered by the worker?
   2. Why might the baseball mitt have been buried along with the old man?
   3. Does it seem likely that the old man’s disappearance would have escaped the notice of neighbors or others?

3. In Arthur Davis’s The Perfect Circle

   1. How might one determine whether the crop circle is a “perfect circle” without venturing into it?
   2. Davy is supposed to be airlifted to a “fully staffed hospital.” Why isn’t the local hospital’s intensive care unit adequate?
   3. Do the space aliens have a function in the story? Could the story proceed as it is with the haunted crop circle but without a flying saucer?
   4. Why does the story not overstep Bewildering Stories’ “Dead Narrators” guideline? Does Bewildering Stories have a “dead dog” guideline? Should it?

4. In Rebecca Johnson’s Keepers of the Ageless One:

   1. What is the “Ageless One”? Human? Humanoid, like Bigfoot? A supernatural creature?
   2. Which appears to be more immediately dangerous: Darren or the Ageless One?
   3. What, exactly, is the “ash” that Kerri uses in firing the final rifle bullet at Darren?
   4. Is there an actress today who is athletic enough to play the role of Kerri now that Lucy Lawless has retired from Xena, Warrior Princess?
   5. How many of the survivalist show’s contestants and film crew are killed by Darren and the Ageless One? In view of Kerri’s extensive knowledge of North American oral traditions, should she have been more careful? Could a prosecutor argue a case of negligence?
   6. In what way can Keepers of the Ageless One be seen as a satire of large swaths of American popular culture?

Responses welcome!

Copyright © September 13, 2021 by Bewildering Stories
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