The Hell of It by Peter Orullian
My rating: 4/5 cats
But a prudent man sees when he’s beaten, doesn’t he. And finds the least painful way to lose.
if any of you have been neglecting to read these free tor shorts on the grounds of “i do not care for science fiction or fantasy,” then never fear! this story has neither! what it DOES have is this disclaimer, which i have only seen on one other tor short so far (but i’m sure it is on many more):
Like some other stories published on Tor.com, “The Hell of It” contains scenes and situations some readers will find upsetting and/or repellent. [—The Editors]
now, i totally understand why disclaimers exist—to warn off the people who might be faint of heart or easily offended or whatever. but for me they operate as a clarion call. “upsetting and/or repellent”??
you have my attention.
and maybe i’m just too leather-tough, but after reading this story, i had no idea what “repellent” situations were being warned against. this is a sad story, no doubt. but all the sad/bad things that occur in this story are things that actually exist in the world in which we live: poverty, death, child prostitution, etc. so it just seems overly cautious to warn people away from situations that haven’t been invented for dramatic effect, but that do exist and should be addressed in fiction.
this is the second tor short i have loved by this man, so i’m definitely going to keep my eyes out for more. the first one was about pain and beauty. this one is about desperation and sacrifice. all of those things are my things—all of that fortitude and perseverance through the hardest of times. all the pride and honesty and last ditch efforts that may or may not be successful. the scrape and pound of life and the struggle to remain upright.
“We’re down. And we’re going to be down for a while. But I want you to remember this: Any man willing to work, if he’ll let go his pride, can find something to lift or push or drag, and someone to place a cold iron plug in his hand for doing so. That’s a heavy net to haul, but you keep a stitch of honor for hauling it.”
it’s a story about a father and a son, all that they have lost, and all that they still have left to lose. it’s like The Road, but with simple poverty taking the place of the undefined apocalypse.
Malen got up, went around the table, and put his large, rough hands on the boy’s shoulders. He meant to offer some reassuring words. Fathers do that. They stand between childhood and the harsh ways of greedy men, whether those men wear uniforms or leathers with week-old meal-stains. Except that it was too late for reassurance. All this had already gotten inside his boy. There was nothing to be done about that. And Malen wouldn’t lie or try to refashion hard truths his son had learned too young.
memory and risk and offering—hope smacked down.
i could just list words all night.
but i’ll stop.
another great sad story from this guy, and not a spaceship or dragon to be seen .
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2015/02/th…
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