Author Topic: PseudoPod 744: This Wet Red  (Read 1101 times)

Bdoomed

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on: February 19, 2021, 03:13:01 AM
PseudoPod 744: This Wet Red

Author: Marisca Pichette
Narrator: Autumn Ivy
Host: Alasdair Stuart
Audio Producer: Marty Perrett

PseudoPod 744: This Wet Red is a PseudoPod original.



I lie listening to a mouse in the wall. Its tiny feet scrabbling across worn boards; its tiny heart beating and beating and beating.

Its not so tiny pursuer winds through the dark, a soft caress of scales over pine. I track the path of the monster unseen from one end of the room to another, steady in pursuit. It knows the mouse cannot escape. It knows there are only so many empty spaces in the house.

Scratch scratch scratch. Squeak. The mouse erupts from the corner and runs down to the floor. I sit up in bed, tracking its progress between my bare feet. From above, I hear the relentless monster drinking the scent of its prey, following it into the open.

Open-ish. It is almost totally dark in the room. In the house. There is no power anymore.




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Álex Souza

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Reply #1 on: February 19, 2021, 04:32:17 PM
Excellent story. The tone works really well. It's dark and gritty. I could almost feel the coldness and sense of loneless. It has that The Road/The Last of Us vibe.

However, I think that the relationship between the two characters could have been more explored. One more chapter--in which we would see them living together and getting to know each other--would suffice. As is, we just don't give a rat's ass care about Helen.

The way Leiki defeated the "monster" (more on that in that spoiler section) didn't feel like deus ex machina to me. She was, in a way, trained to do this (and got lucky). Or...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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Marlboro

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Reply #2 on: February 19, 2021, 10:12:44 PM
Nice reading.


I also didn't understand why Leiki said that would fuck Helen if she had the strength. [/spoiler]






The way I took it is that Leiki was just extremely grateful to have company and for being allowed to stay.

I'm not 100% sure I understand the story completely, but I can say that about a lot of stories that I read. My interpretation is that Leiki is the monster. Now exactly what the monster is, I can's say. I think it only manifests when Leiki grows extremely hungry. Until that point Leiki thinks she is a normal human. I also assume that their is some sort of physical transformation since Leiki seems to lose a lot of jackets. At the end, Helen, consumed by hunger but still maintaining her own personality, goes prepares to go outside to check on the "monster" but quickly succumbs to her bloodlust. She transforms into the real monster, slaughters Helen, and then goes outside and kills the bear, losing her coat in the process. She leaves Helen's home, the memory of what she really is slowly slipping away, and moves on to find a new house...and victim.

I could be completely wrong about all of that.


One thing that points to my theory being incorrect is that Leiki remembers how many coats she has lost a the beginning of the story. Secondly, if she loses her coat in a physical transformation, I'm not sure how the bear got a hold of it. Well, now I'm more confused than when I first started to try to explain it to you! 


p.s. Is there any significance to the protagonists name being "Leiki"?
« Last Edit: February 20, 2021, 12:26:21 AM by Marlboro »



Scuba Man

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Reply #3 on: February 23, 2021, 01:02:29 AM
 :o
First time I've seen some foul (fowl?) language posted so brazingly on the platform.
Patreon's community seems quite muted. Ah well...

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Scattercat

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Reply #4 on: June 02, 2021, 09:30:21 AM
I mean, the story might as well have opened with the line "She's a werewolf," but it was really well told, with some evocative detail and some nice subtle shading on the character work.  I enjoyed it. 

It doesn't seem like her very slow progress house by house would result in evacuations, though.  One wonders if she is the only one or if we have a real Sweet Home situation on our hands.