EP Flash: A Preference for Silence

[Russell Nash]

EP Flash: A Preference for Silence

By Lucy A. Snyder.
Read by Ann Leckie.

Veronica was a spaceworthy lass with a definite preference for silence and a sensitivity to detail. She’d never lost her tea in zero gee and had always been the first to note when the coffee maker needed cleaning or when the fluorescent lights would flick-flicker in signal of the bulbs’ impending death.

Rated R. Contains sexual situations and noisy people.



Listen to this EP Flash!

[MacArthurBug]

for some reason- caused me to cackle like a maniac

[Russell Nash]

for some reason- caused me to cackle like a maniac

It probably started to bother you and seem too loud.

[Boggled Coriander]

I liked this.  Like EP183: Beans and Marbles, but completely different.

Once they mentioned the ship was The Doubtful Guest my mind was on an Edward Gorey kick. I had fun imagining some of the more strangely elegant sentences from the story being placed in a Gorey context.

[Pheron]

I've spent the last 30 days under constant headache, many of which migrated to migraine status.
Let me tell you I really identified with the suffering main character in this story!

I liked it.

[Listener]

"Beans and Marbles" in five minutes.

I liked it.

[Zathras]

Dissenting opinion time.

I could have liked this, could.  Space madness is an overdone trope. 

It was important enough for Veronica and Melvin to both like the same air freshener, yet no thought was given to privacy?  Sorry, this fact kept buzzing around, distracting me and would have surely driven me mad had this been a full length episode. 

[Russell Nash]

Dissenting opinion time.

I could have liked this, could.  Space madness is an overdone trope. 

It was important enough for Veronica and Melvin to both like the same air freshener, yet no thought was given to privacy?  Sorry, this fact kept buzzing around, distracting me and would have surely driven me mad had this been a full length episode. 

Shoot me for saying it, but Zathras has a good point.  I kept wondering why there wasn't some kind of sound proofing or at least separation between the bridge and the sleeping areas.  Was the toilet also right there in the same room?

[Bdoomed]

i didnt get the "space madness" vibe out of this story, rather i was thinking more along the lines of a couple , slowly but surely hating everything the other does.  either that or the situation with my friend Dylan's roommate haha.

anyway i thought it was cute.

[Darwinist]

for some reason- caused me to cackle like a maniac

Same here!  I liked it.  I guess I can relate to the protagonist. 

[Corydon]

Dissenting opinion time.

I could have liked this, could.  Space madness is an overdone trope. 

It was important enough for Veronica and Melvin to both like the same air freshener, yet no thought was given to privacy?  Sorry, this fact kept buzzing around, distracting me and would have surely driven me mad had this been a full length episode. 

Shoot me for saying it, but Zathras has a good point.  I kept wondering why there wasn't some kind of sound proofing or at least separation between the bridge and the sleeping areas.  Was the toilet also right there in the same room?

I know, I know... aren't there any stories where the folks watching the cryopods have a wonderful, relaxing trip? 

I guess I can work out a scenario in which the spaceship engineers were so pressed for space that the crew would have a tiny, privacy-free living compartment.  But you'd think that the hazards of the job would be so obvious that they'd avoid the obvious ones. 

Or maybe not.  People can be pretty stupid.

[MacArthurBug]

for some reason- caused me to cackle like a maniac

It probably started to bother you and seem too loud.

tthhppptth

[Hatton]

Was no one else reminded of Tell-Tale Heart at the end?

[cuddlebug]

Oh, I loved this one. Very well executed idea and I don't feel it's an overdone trope at all, it certainly isn't getting boring yet, not for me anyway. The story was extremely well paced and well read, as we all know the reading can save or kill a story. this just seemed to click. Very enjoyable, and hey, who couldn't identify with this one. there are always little annoying habits that just seem to tick us off, everyone has them and the idea of living with someone in a confined space, habits or not, makes this almost more of a PP story for me, (because I am slightly agoraphobic and on top of that I have a weird paranoia about protecting my privacy). Great story, more like this please.

[Loz]

Are there any space journeys that don't end with someone going psycho? Too similar to that story from a few weeks ago but at least it was brief.

[birdless]

I enjoyed it because they were able to get across the grating habits of her cohort in such a short format. If it had been longer, i don't think i would have enjoyed it. Plus, yeah, it's been done many times, but i've not it seen done in such brevity.

[Unblinking]

I liked it!

Like Bdoomed, I thought this made a good metaphor for pet peeves in a relationship.  In the beginning, you'll forgive the other anything.  Ten years later, the other person forgetting to rinse out the milk carton before putting it in the recycle bin can become a major debacle!

hatton--I too was reminded of the Tell-Tale Heart, which made me like the story even more.