Heradel
Bill Peters
Autarch
Posts: 2620
Part-Time Psychopomp.
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« on: August 08, 2008, 09:19:24 pm » |
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PodCastle Miniature 008: BelieveBy Katherine SparrowRead by Ann LeckieFirst appeared in Son and Foe (full text at link) “I’ve been practicing.” Kenya nods her head. “It takes a lot of practice.” “How long did it take you?” “Forever!” Kenya claps her hands and makes two more quarters appear. At lunch she buys two chocolate milks with her quarters and gives one to Maria. It is sweet and thick and better than the wheat bread and yellow rubber-cheese sandwich her Mom packed for her. They have a test in long division after lunch and Maria feels mad that Kenya can just get an ‘A’ with magic but she has to work hard. She knows how to do it but keeps forgetting to carry the ones and the twos and the only thing that matters to the teacher is getting the answer right. I believe I’ll get an A, Maria thinks as hard as she can. D into A, D into A! “Can you do more magic?” Maria asks Kenya at recess. “Yes.” “Will you show me?” “Maybe tomorrow. I have to believe more first.” Rated G. Contains quarters in unexpected places.
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MacArthurBug
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« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2008, 09:54:32 pm » |
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Awesome idea VERY well spelled out via story. Magic as belief, true honest belief. I personally aspire to learn the trick myself.
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Oh, great and mighty Alasdair, Orator Maleficent, He of the Silvered Tongue, guide this humble fangirl past jumping up and down and squeeing upon hearing the greatness of Thy voice.
Oh mighty Mur the Magnificent. I am not worthy.
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Schreiber
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« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2008, 08:31:24 am » |
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"Did Mad Sweeney teach you that trick?"  |
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ryos
Palmer
Posts: 60
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« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2008, 11:20:49 pm » |
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Quite possibly my favorite miniature to date. I kept waiting for the quarters to turn up missing from someone else, but there's no room for that sort of exposition in a story this short. One of the many limitations of the form...
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eytanz
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« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2008, 04:38:41 am » |
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Oh, great little story. And I really like the subtle play with ambiguity, especially at the very last line.
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stePH
Actually has enough cowbell.
Hipparch
Posts: 3124
L, do you know, gods of death love apples?
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« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2008, 08:12:09 am » |
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Alert the media ... I actually liked this one beyond the "faint praise" level. The story wasn't contorting itself up its own arse in a desperate attempt to be clever (I'm looking at you, "Hippocampus") but proceeded straightforwardly to what I considered a satisfying end.
And at six minutes, is this the shortest Miniature yet?
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God masturbates every time you kill a kitten.
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DKT
Friendly Neighborhood
Moderator
Posts: 2518
PodCastle is my Co-Pilot
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« Reply #6 on: August 11, 2008, 10:48:27 am » |
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And at six minutes, is this the shortest Miniature yet?
Tooth Fairy was under 3, if memory serves correctly. |
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Listener
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« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2008, 07:21:40 am » |
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I liked it. I really thought Kenya was doing magic, not trickery.
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stePH
Actually has enough cowbell.
Hipparch
Posts: 3124
L, do you know, gods of death love apples?
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« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2008, 08:05:02 am » |
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I liked it. I really thought Kenya was doing magic, not trickery.
Apparently, so did the narrator.  |
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God masturbates every time you kill a kitten.
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Listener
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« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2008, 09:47:45 am » |
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I liked it. I really thought Kenya was doing magic, not trickery.
Apparently, so did the narrator. PRETTY sure that was the point.  |
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ieDaddy
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« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2008, 03:03:17 pm » |
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Definitely my favorite miniature. Loved the last line as it was stuck in my head the rest of the day. I even clapped my hands once or twice to see if I could get some quarters. Loved the theme of being too innocent to not believe in magic, and if you believe hard enough - anything is possible, even magic.
Subtle points for her not sharing it with her mother - after all adults don't believe in magic, do they?
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stePH
Actually has enough cowbell.
Hipparch
Posts: 3124
L, do you know, gods of death love apples?
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« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2008, 03:05:25 pm » |
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I liked it. I really thought Kenya was doing magic, not trickery.
Apparently, so did the narrator. PRETTY sure that was the point. Yeah, you could be right -- but unless the author wants to chime in here, we may never know ...  |
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God masturbates every time you kill a kitten.
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Roney
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« Reply #12 on: August 12, 2008, 04:11:55 pm » |
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Magic as belief, true honest belief.
What a fascinating definition, compared to epistemology's frequent recourse to defining knowledge as "justified true belief" -- in Fantasy, is true belief without justification not "a lucky guess" but "magic"? Thumbs up for a very nicely elaborated, if predictable, story, although PaRappa the Rapper has made it difficult for me to take anything too seriously if it's based entirely on "I gotta believe!" |
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Katie
Palmer
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« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2008, 10:30:52 am » |
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I liked it. I really thought Kenya was doing magic, not trickery.
Apparently, so did the narrator. PRETTY sure that was the point. Yeah, you could be right -- but unless the author wants to chime in here, we may never know ... Thanks everyone for all the feedback on "Believe." I love it that Escape Artists have such active forums. As far as the author weighing in on the subject... The question is whether Maria believed Kenya was actually doing magic? Am I getting that right? This one is pretty straightforward: yes she did. |
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stePH
Actually has enough cowbell.
Hipparch
Posts: 3124
L, do you know, gods of death love apples?
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« Reply #14 on: August 13, 2008, 10:35:17 am » |
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I liked it. I really thought Kenya was doing magic, not trickery.
Apparently, so did the narrator. PRETTY sure that was the point. Yeah, you could be right -- but unless the author wants to chime in here, we may never know ... Thanks everyone for all the feedback on "Believe." I love it that Escape Artists have such active forums. As far as the author weighing in on the subject... The question is whether Maria believed Kenya was actually doing magic? Am I getting that right? This one is pretty straightforward: yes she did. Apparently the inclusion of and smilies isn't adequately telegraphing the facetious intent of my posts. ... so ...  |
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God masturbates every time you kill a kitten.
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Windup
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« Reply #15 on: August 13, 2008, 11:29:30 pm » |
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Loved it!!! Another great PodCastle miniature..
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My whole job is in the space between "should be" and "is." It's a big space...
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Nobilis
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« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2008, 08:46:58 pm » |
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I like stories with beginnings, middles, and ends. This had all three. Rare, in fiction this short. Brava!
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Loz
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« Reply #17 on: August 20, 2008, 06:10:29 am » |
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That was a wonderful little story, and just long enough to get me back from the shop to my flat.
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Unblinking
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« Reply #18 on: November 19, 2009, 12:48:55 pm » |
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Lovely story, naivette is its own power! Well written, good characters.
Not much else to say really. Excellent flash!
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