Author Topic: PC077: Nine Sundays In A Row  (Read 8878 times)

Heradel

  • Bill Peters, EP Assistant
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2938
  • Part-Time Psychopomp.
on: November 12, 2009, 01:46:12 PM
PodCastle 77: Nine Sundays In A Row

By Kris Dikeman.
Read by Kane Lynch.

If you wanta learn you somethin’, go on down to a place where two roads cross. Get there Saturday ’round midnight, and wait there ’til Sunday morning—do that for nine Sundays, all in a row. The dark man, he’ll send his dog to watch on you while you wait. And on the ninth morning, the dark man will meet you. And he will learn you—anything you wanta learn. But you remember this: that dark man, he don’t work for free.

Rated R: Themes of abuse, and dark deals at the crossroads.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2009, 04:56:13 PM by Heradel »

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


Talia

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 2682
  • Muahahahaha
Reply #1 on: November 13, 2009, 05:41:36 AM
Hey, if you're so inclined could we get this stickied, pretty please? tank ewe!

A nice, if dark, little tale. The dark man is some variation of Satan, I suppose. A bit folktale-ish.



Heradel

  • Bill Peters, EP Assistant
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2938
  • Part-Time Psychopomp.
Reply #2 on: November 13, 2009, 05:59:34 AM
Hey, if you're so inclined could we get this stickied, pretty please? tank ewe!

A nice, if dark, little tale. The dark man is some variation of Satan, I suppose. A bit folktale-ish.

Arg, slipped my mind, thanks for the reminder.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


internalogic

  • Palmer
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Reply #3 on: November 13, 2009, 11:18:35 AM
If you wanta learn you somethin’, go on down to a place where two roads cross. Get there Saturday ’round midnight, and wait there ’til Sunday morning—do that for nine Sundays, all in a row. The dark man, he’ll send his dog to watch on you while you wait. And on the ninth morning, the dark man will meet you. And he will learn you—anything you wanta learn. But you remember this: that dark man, he don’t work for free.


Those first six sentences deserve some kind of award for something.  They were so effective for exposition but without strangling the rest of the story at all.  They set the stage in terms of 1) the information they give, 2) the characters they introduce, and 3) the folk dialect form that they use. 

After that you're pretty much strapped in.

Thanks for another great story



Katie

  • Palmer
  • **
  • Posts: 28
Reply #4 on: November 13, 2009, 03:08:35 PM
I adore this story. Not much else to say.



Zenwolf121

  • Extern
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Reply #5 on: November 13, 2009, 11:15:20 PM
I like this story, it has alot to do with what I had gone threw when I was a kid. I was abused as this girl had been and its been along time I have been trying to come out of the darkness. But I don't think that I had reached the part were I would turn totally dark, but I know that I had lost my soul a long time ago. But without selling it you can always reclame it. Making your part in the world even in a little part, a ear to someone in need, feeding someone who is hungry or cold, or the simpole act of caring. All of this can rebuild your soul no matter how much you hate yourself, a hand offered is one that can help or hurt, all depends on the holder.



Ocicat

  • Castle Watchcat
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3722
  • Anything for a Weird Life
Reply #6 on: November 15, 2009, 11:33:13 PM
Great story.  Loved the dog's "voice" - it captured the canine personality quite well (maybe not as fantastic or fun as "How I Mounted Goldie" but still really fun).  And the atmosphere in general was great.  And the ending... well, I'd have been disappointed if it was anything else.  But I had no cause to fear - we had a dark story and were left with an appropriately dark ending.

I wonder if the premise of this story comes from some actual folklore or is invented... I have heard bits about the Devil meeting at the crossroads before, but never quite as detailed as the nine sundays bit.  But it sounds quite like something that's in American folklore somewhere, so I imagine it's something the author heard rather than invented.  Which would just make the story all the better.



MacArthurBug

  • Giddy
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 648
  • I can resist anything except temptation
    • undercaffinated
Reply #7 on: November 16, 2009, 12:07:43 PM
Who's a good story? Who is! Who?

Ok seriously. I really enjoyed the POV of the MC here. I like the folklore feeling. My emotions were so mixed at the tie up I couldn't tell if I was happy or sad. I DEEPLY enjoyed this story. The reading set me off at first, I wasn't sure the voice meshed with my mental picture (BIG fugoff black dog vs sweet youngish male voice) but I settled in and this reader got the feeling behind the voice.
I enjoy crossroad/ meetings with the devil stories- so of course I enjoyed this.

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.


gelee

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 521
  • It's a missile, boy.
Reply #8 on: November 16, 2009, 10:15:57 PM
Awesome story, and great work by Kane Lynch.  Wonderfully expressive reading.  I loved the Dog's initial disdain for the people who show up at the crossroads, and watching the relationship between the dog and girl evolve and change was a great show. 



Sandikal

  • Matross
  • ****
  • Posts: 287
Reply #9 on: November 17, 2009, 04:01:48 AM
This story really tugged at my heartstrings.  It was truly wonderfully written and wonderfully read. 



eytanz

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 6109
Reply #10 on: November 17, 2009, 11:16:16 AM
A sad, touching story. Very well written. I really liked the way the dog grew to understand the girl's abuse, and how that helped him understand his own abusive relatonship with his master. And at the end, when he made the choice to stay so that one day he can save her, I was really affected. The story offered no easy resolution - things were too far gone by the time it started that - but it offered hope of a sorts regardless, and I really appreciated that.



Unblinking

  • Sir Postsalot
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 8729
    • Diabolical Plots
Reply #11 on: November 17, 2009, 05:46:34 PM
I tend to enjoy deal with the devil stories, and I like a good dog POV story (I've written one of my own).  This story took both and made a really excellent story.  I like how the dog's opinion of the girl changes as the weeks pass, and I really love the ending that he is willing to stay where he is for the opportunity to free her at some later date.

Outstanding, more like this please!  :)



Portrait in Flesh

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1121
  • NO KILL I
Reply #12 on: November 18, 2009, 12:35:26 AM
I sold my soul at the crossroads and all I got was this lousy t-shirt great story.

I'm pretty sure I could listen to it nine Sundays in a row and still enjoy it each time.

"Boys from the city.  Not yet caught by the whirlwind of Progress.  Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs." --The Beast of Yucca Flats


Heradel

  • Bill Peters, EP Assistant
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2938
  • Part-Time Psychopomp.
Reply #13 on: November 18, 2009, 06:43:04 PM
I don't step in to comment on stories much, but this one was really excellent.

I'm not sure EA's run a bad story from a dog's POV.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


FamilyGuy

  • Matross
  • ****
  • Posts: 241
Reply #14 on: November 18, 2009, 11:07:01 PM
A wonderfully written and read piece.  Thank you.

When will all the rhetorical questions end?


RedArrow

  • Extern
  • *
  • Posts: 7
Reply #15 on: November 20, 2009, 07:08:13 PM
Like all those above, I really loved this story.  I did find the reading a bit jarring, as I had a hard time meshing Mr. Lynch's voice with that of the dog.  I guess that I would have preferred a rougher voice with a southern accent to match some of the dialog.  That said, Mr. Lynch did a great job in voicing the girl, and an especially nice job in voicing the dark man. 



Loz

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 370
    • Blah Flowers
Reply #16 on: November 23, 2009, 05:05:04 PM
I agree with the previous, Mr Lynch should have played a bitchy cat, but otherwise I did enjoy this story, though it took a while to get going. I especially liked the way that it builds so you assume the dog or the girl is going to pull something out of somehwere to trick the devil on his due, but it never happens and he gets what he wants. So I wonder who sent the rattlesnake?



Scattercat

  • Caution:
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 4904
  • Amateur wordsmith
    • Mirrorshards
Reply #17 on: November 24, 2009, 04:04:39 AM
I liked the opener, as mentioned above.  And I also liked the use of a Red Rooster as a demonic animal (because chickens are evil, evil, evil little spawn and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.)  The last thing I enjoyed was the idea of a deadly diamondback as the instrument of holy salvation. 

Otherwise, I was a little underwhelmed.  This story was predictable in a not-quite-so-good-as-Small-Door way.  I could have done with a little less exposition from the Black Dog.  Okay, a lot less exposition.  "Just show us the story and stop telling us stuff," I said.  I mean, the girl says her soul was already taken and lifts her clothes to show scars, and the Dog has to announce that she's been abused?  Really?  We couldn't be trusted to come to that conclusion alone, Mister Dog?

I mean, don't get me wrong, it was still enjoyable.  Just nowhere near the top of my personal list for PodCastle.



LaShawn

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 550
  • Writer Mommies Rule!
    • The Cafe in the Woods
Reply #18 on: November 24, 2009, 05:07:15 PM
Gotta chime in with everyone else and say Great Story! Done very well from the dog's POV--gave interesting insight into both the girl and the Dark Man. And I really, really liked the ending. Made it oddly hopeful.

--
Visit LaShawn at The Cafe in the Woods:
http://tbonecafe.wordpress.com
Another writer's antiblog: In Touch With Yours Truly


mbrennan

  • Matross
  • ****
  • Posts: 210
Reply #19 on: December 23, 2009, 05:52:43 AM
Since my comments on the last few stories have ranged from the underwhelmed to the warm-but-not-raving, let me rave now: LOVED THIS ONE.  Loved it to little pieces.  Made my folkloric heart squee with joy, while avoiding slavish adherence to the source ideas.  I was especially pleased with the depiction of the dark man -- for a while I thought maybe this would be a "sympathy for the devil" situation, where the author would try to convince me he's not such a bad guy, but no.  Much more interesting than that (since the sympathy angle is hard to do well).

I can't rightly evaluate the dog's perspective, unregenerate cat person that I am, but it was highly engaging, which is what I really care about.  I finished it and immediately turned to my husband in the plane seat next to me, telling him he should listen to it, too.



ckastens

  • Extern
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Reply #20 on: January 18, 2010, 01:51:22 AM
Really loved that ending!