Pseudopod 056: Crab Apple

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 056: Crab Apple


By Patrick Samphire
Read by Rich Sigfrit

“Josh.” His voice was hoarse, like he’d been shouting.

“How are you doing, Dad?” I tried to stop my voice shaking. I didn’t want to seem like a kid.

“Been better, been worse.” He worked his lips, as though his mouth was dry. “See, the old devil’s put his hand into my chest, lad. Left a bit of a gift for me.”

He coughed. His thin chest shuddered. He turned and spat into a metal bowl by his bed. The spit was thick and threaded with blood. He gave me a painful grin.



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[Leon Kensington]

Very good story.  And I have to agree with Alasdair's (hope I spelt your name right) statement at the end, I've had three people in my family die of cancer and well...Yah.  Great Story though, I think the only thing that would have made it better was a reading by Matt Selznick instead.  Though, Rick did wonderfully, I just think Matt's voice fits the character better.

Story:  9 out of 10                                                    Reading:  8 out of 10

[Listener]

No complaints.  Overall pretty good.

[DDog]

I don't know whether this story has few comments just because it's recent, but that it has few comments matches my reaction to it. It was fine, but I don't really have much to say about it in response.

It's interesting that the 'aha' factor has a much shorter lifespan in short fiction. The first aid tie-in wasn't nearly as satisfying as it would have been in a longer story, when I hadn't just been reminded two minutes before that he knew it.

The end was creepy though. What the hell was the crab apple supposed to mean at the hospital? Just a symbol of solidarity in shared experiences or are they planning to feed it to the father if he doesn't come through the surgery? He does say he "swallowed an apple," I just now remembered.

[bolddeceiver]

Very good.  Little else to say.  As a first pseudo listen (I've been listening to EP for about a month, and was in need of more story fix after getting through all the back episodes), this story recommends the PP well. 

[sirana]

Liked the story, especially digged the female character.
Reading was fantastic again, especially the boys father.

[Kaa]

While the actual story didn't do much for me on this one, I think the reading made up for whatever deficit that might have had.  Wow.  Get him to read more.

I've watched a parent die of cancer, so maybe that's why this story didn't work for me on some level.  Maybe those parts were a bit...too real? *shrug* 

[Jim]

Great reading, coughing fits and all.

I definitely prefer it when a male reader doesn't try hard to sound female when reading a female character's part of the dialogue.

I think the narrator ("Josh") was offered the apple to eat in the hospital in order to turn him into a servant of "Crab."

[DarkKnightJRK]

Great reading, coughing fits and all.

I definitely prefer it when a male reader doesn't try hard to sound female when reading a female character's part of the dialogue.

I think the narrator ("Josh") was offered the apple to eat in the hospital in order to turn him into a servant of "Crab."

I would think that Josh wouldn't even think about it, seeing how it turned out for the girl.

[Myrealana]

I loved this story.

I really like the idea of taking a very profound and life-changing event like a parent's severe illness and juxtaposing it with something so vastly outside of normal experience. It could have had a very "After School Special" feeling to it, but instead it ended up both creepy and moving.

I think the apple at the end was just a symbol of their bond through the shared experience. I don't think that anyone was intending to eat it.

[Unblinking]

I loved this story.

I really like the idea of taking a very profound and life-changing event like a parent's severe illness and juxtaposing it with something so vastly outside of normal experience. It could have had a very "After School Special" feeling to it, but instead it ended up both creepy and moving.

I think the apple at the end was just a symbol of their bond through the shared experience. I don't think that anyone was intending to eat it.

I thought the apple she shows at the end was the apple she removed from his father's lung.  The fact that his dad called his tumor an apple, and the presence of crab apples in her side of the plot can't be coincidence.  So I saw it as a sign that, despite the 20% chance, his tumor had already been removed by her, so he was going to get better.  Multiple interpretations are always interesting, and I see at least 3 here of the significance of the apple, but it does make me curious what the author was going for.

I liked this story reasonably well.  The girl kind of annoyed me for no reason I've been able to pinpoint, but that's just me.  I did think the title kindof gave away some surprise about the ending, especially since the first mention of an apple is his father's reference to his tumor.

[Millenium_King]

I didn't much care for this one.  It was decent enough in theme and plot - but I just couldn't get into it.  The boy and the girl (Emma) were both pretty flat.  Once the girl launched in to the typical, willful, impish girl schtick I found myself rolling my eyes.  I have no idea if the cliche has a name, but the "wild girl" who comes to help a despondant young boy and simply won't take "no" for an answer is pretty overused.  From "The Scarlet Letter" to "Interview with a Vampire" she's been everywhere.  Especially the lines "stupid boy tee-hee!"  Ugh.  I felt like I'd heard it a thousand times before.  In stories like this, the "fae" girl who seems so wild and free usually turns out to have serious problems of her own - and this story was no exception.  The concept might have been woven together well, but the characters were certainly miles and miles away from original - or even interesting.

The reading also felt a little rushed in some places.  Other times, I felt it had the wrong inflection for the line.

Not one of the best stories here.

[Unblinking]

I think you're thinking of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manic_Pixie_Dream_Girl

I've liked some stories based around that trope, especially Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Dharma and Greg being another obvious example. 

Then again, it never really bugs me as long as the people feel genuine.  Hell, I had crush on such a girl in my youth that matched the cliche perfectly.  And I also knew about a 3 dozen other guys who had crushes on the same girl at the same time.  SOME stereotypes are stereotypes because they're actually pretty common. 

[Millenium_King]

I think you're thinking of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manic_Pixie_Dream_Girl

I've liked some stories based around that trope, especially Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Dharma and Greg being another obvious example. 

Then again, it never really bugs me as long as the people feel genuine.  Hell, I had crush on such a girl in my youth that matched the cliche perfectly.  And I also knew about a 3 dozen other guys who had crushes on the same girl at the same time.  SOME stereotypes are stereotypes because they're actually pretty common. 

Thank you!  That's a perfect description of what I was shooting for.  I will admit firstly that I despise that archetype: I consider it too archetypal to be entirely realistic - did that girl in your past come knocking on your window at night with leaves in her hair so that you could go follow her dancing in the moonlight?

The girl in this story did not feel like a person, she felt like an archetype.  At least, that's what I thought.

[Unblinking]

did that girl in your past come knocking on your window at night with leaves in her hair so that you could go follow her dancing in the moonlight?

Well, no.  For starters, it wasn't a mutual crush.   But I wouldn't be entirely surprised if she had gone knocking on someone else's window to dance in the moonlight.    But I buy the stereotype in general, because it's often not all that far-fetched--specific cases may of course be exceptions.  Not dancing in the moonlight with leaves in the hair, often, but Eternal Sunshine I totally buy, 500 Days of Summer I totally buy.  For the record, I love both of those movies--I even forgave Kate Winslet for being involved in Titanic after Eternal Sunshine.  Zooey's my Hollywood girlfriend, so I probably would've liked the movie even if it had sucked--but I don't think it did suck.