by Hilary Moon Murphy.
Read by Christopher Reynaga.
…this girl appeared from behind a door and caught my ball. She was probably my age: several inches taller than I am, with long straight black hair pulled back in a ponytail, plain white t-shirt, denim jacket and jeans with a hole worn in the knee. She stared at me with intense dark eyes and said, “What are you doing here?”
“I was just getting my ball,” I said, stepping out of the way of two movers carrying a large red bureau with multi-colored wax stains all over it.
“No, you weren’t.” She cocked her head to the side, and raised her eyebrow. ”You were spying.”
“I wasn’t!”
“That’s okay, I like spies.” She gave me back my ball and showed me her hands. ”I have nine fingers. I’m a witch.”
Rated PG. Contains boyhood, and witchcraft, and jars full of preserved things.
Jennifer said,
June 25, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
This story started out with a lot of potential. I liked the contrasting elements in it. I enjoyed the family of spies, even though we never found out why they were spying. They reminded me of the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz. And then there’s the witch next door who got magical powers from finger amputation, and the ill mother.
I thought all of these elements put together would come to an interesting conclusion, but…the sad thing is, they did not. It just petered out. Kevin asks Maria to help his mother, she can’t, friendship and story end, that’s it. I felt cheated, and it felt like all of that potential in a fantasy story ended in deadly dull reality.
Natasha said,
June 26, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
I loved this story - of the (admittedly few) several dozen stories I’ve heard so far, this is one of my favourites. It had a strong fantasy element present through the whole story, but not overwhelming the characters, who I thought were interesting and complex. I liked the different family dynamics shown. The moment with Maria and the grandmother was really touching, I stopped what I was doing to smile. Ok, to wipe away a small tear, but I was smiling while I did it.
I thought the ending was a nice twist on the “wishes bear a price to pay” theme. His wish, as much as it was for the benefit of others, was paid at the cost of another too. He also gained, and also paid. What a tragic economy.
I agree with the other commenter in wishing that the ending could have been a bit, I don’t know, MORE in some way, but I was satisfied. A different kind of fantasy story could have had him join Maria’s family so that he lived happily-ever-after, but what of his mother and grandparents? The story did crash down into the every day world, but since the fantastic element of the story was related to the loss of the magic of childhood, I think that the end was appropriate.
scatterbrain said,
June 28, 2009 @ 4:36 pm
Not a bad story, but then again, there was not a lot of substance bar the posing of the question: Would you destroy someone’s gift to help someone else?
Bruce Nielson said,
June 29, 2009 @ 11:00 am
I loved the story. I even loved the ending. It left me wondering. Was it worth it? It seems to me that it was, though it was taken without permission, leaving it morally gray.
Librarian X said,
June 29, 2009 @ 12:41 pm
“Someone said”? No credit for the great Lou Reed?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_and_Loss
Tangaroa said,
June 29, 2009 @ 6:24 pm
There is a “blood is thicker than water” element in the story as well. As much as the main character wanted to be away from his family, in the end he chooses family over friends. Even though there is regret over the loss of the friendship, he finds new rewards in strengthening the relationship with his family.
Julian said,
July 9, 2009 @ 7:35 am
This is my favorite episode of podcastle in a long while. I loved the modern fantasy setting and the characters were children without being the naive little kids adults so often project onto young people.
I too would’ve liked to know a bit more about what the spy family was spying on and why, but I think they were an archetype in the vein of the sandman comics…they are spies because they are “the” spies…
Abbie said,
July 20, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
Good story, very sad. Maria reminds me of a Luna Lovegood, who is one of my favorite HP characters.
I know it’s nitpicking, but the idea that paramedics would not have epi or would not be able to administer it is absurd. It’s part of the ACLS algorithm. I know the story is set in a magical universe, but I can’t see how this change benefits anything.