PC327: The Telling

[kibitzer]

by Gregory Norman Bossert

Read by Cian MacMahon

Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue #109, November 2012. Read it here.

Mel peered around Cook’s hip as the butler stepped out of the master bedroom and carefully shut the door. Pearse stood for a minute, one pale hand still on the glass knob, the other unconsciously stroking his neckcloth smooth. Mel thought the hallway seemed lighter, as if the butler had closed all the darkness in the house behind the heavy oak door. The entire staff of the House was there, lining the two long walls of the hall, even Ralph the gardener and Neff who turned the roast and would on any other occasion be beaten if found upstairs. Pearse looked up then, eyes worn to a pale sharpness under heavy white brows, and Mel leaned back into the cover of Cook’s wide flank, safety from the butler’s gaze, from the strangeness of the moment.

“Lord Dellus has passed,” Pearse said; the staff gasped and sighed, as if they had not known already from the cries that had haunted the house since evening last and had stopped so suddenly this morning. “Stopped without an echo,” Cook had said with heavy significance, and added, “That’s that, then,” as she did when a loaf went flat or a bird slipped from the spit to the ashes.

There had been no sighs then; the staff had exchanged weary nods and worried glances in the silence of a House without a head. And there had been a few curious glances toward Mel’s spot on the corner stool that had left Mel wondering what one was meant to feel, and if that dizzy burst of relief and fear was evident, was evil.

Rated R. Contains Disturbing Imagery, some of it sexual.

About the Author: Gregory Norman Bossert is an author, filmmaker, and musician, currently based just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

He spent twenty years doing sound design and music at night, while his career in the software industry took him from his native Cambridge, MA to Minnesota, Manhattan, New Jersey, Silicon Valley, and Berlin.

A decade ago, his passions overwhelmed his day job.  Since then, he’s done research, design, and layout for feature films including the Neil Gaiman/Roger Avary adaptation of Beowulf, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, and Luc Besson’s Lucy, built experimental musical instruments, and worked on creating visuals and sounds for independent films.  He currently works as a layout artist for Industrial Light & Magic, wrangling spaceships and monsters.

Greg started writing in 2009, on a dare from film designer Iain McCaig.  His first published story came out Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine in 2010, and he attended the legendary Clarion Writers’ Workshop that same year.  Since then he has published a dozen stories, branched out to fantasy and horror, won the World Fantasy Award, and been a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award.  Look for upcoming stories from Asimov’s, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Kaleidotrope.

Samples of his writing, videos, and music can be found on his websites:  www.suddensound.com and www.gregorynormanbossert.com.

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!

[InfiniteMonkey]

I really liked this story, more than I usually liked stories of this ilk. I love the way that Mel's indeterminate gender sneaks up on the listener. I actually had to listen to the story a second time to make sure I'd heard what I thought I heard (it turns out I had). (listen carefully - the author actually uses the third person gendered pronouns - both of the them - once each, and the neuter pronoun once). I loved the subtly of the revelation of Mel's identity - indeed, no where is it explicitly stated, though I found it pretty damn obvious even before the end.

I like the the similar-but-different - and clearly related - habitats of Mel's mother and the Madman, almost certainly Mel's uncle.

I like both the Gothic and Victorian/Edwardian feel about the surroundings. As well as the "lord is part of the land" notion.

I'm not completely sure I understand Mel's connection with the bees, outside of that "the lord's health is part of the land's health"; I suppose the Bees, like The Water That Falls On You From Nowhere, are not particularly happy with lying. What really puzzles me, though, is the notion that the servants are tied to their positions through family. Just how close is Mel to the groundskeeper?  I'm sure I'm missing some significance with the bees that I'm missing....

[Ocicat]

Having also gone to the Museum of Jurassic Technology, I've heard about the custom of telling the bees.  It's apparently a real custom (see it's Wikipedia Page) and I even have the T-shirt.



I don't think Mel had any particular connection to the bees, per se.  But as the youngest child, Mel was the one to tell them, and it seemed like the bees decided that as a there was no Lord on the premises, and Mel was a rightful descendant, they should feed Mel some royal jelly...

[SpareInch]

What really puzzles me, though, is the notion that the servants are tied to their positions through family. Just how close is Mel to the groundskeeper?  I'm sure I'm missing some significance with the bees that I'm missing....

While some old retainers in that sort of household can become like part of the family, I think the exaggerated nature of the domestic staff holding hereditary posts was supposed to draw a parallel to the bees. In a hive, in general all the bees are related. Workers, Drones and Queens.

[ElectricPaladin]

I loved this story. It was... so freaking weird! And then end, when the character finally says "I'm leaving this screwed up place, and I'm taking the bees with me! We out!" It was brilliant. I got all misty. I can't wait to hear more from this author.

[Varda]

This story was outstanding. I loved how important folklore was to this world, and the characters' interpretation of it, and how all the superstitions seemed to be true, and just a way of describing life in this world.

But what I really, REALLY loved was how this story completely deconstructs Lovecraftian themes and turns them upside down on their head. Throughout much of the story, there's a strong Lovecraftian horror sense surrounding Mel's origins and why the bees are angry. And in many ways, the truth is pretty horrific, because what happened to Mel's mother is absolutely awful. But if Lovecraft had written the story, Mel would really have been the monster or villain, and ambiguous gender held up as a monstrosity. This story didn't go there at all. This story let Mel own and celebrate Mel's body and differences, and Mel gets to be the hero. The way this story humanized a person surrounded by so much stigma and allowed them to take control of their own destiny was breathtakingly powerful. I'm not surprised at all it won the World Fantasy Award. Thanks for picking it, Dave and Anna.

[ElectricPaladin]

This story was outstanding. I loved how important folklore was to this world, and the characters' interpretation of it, and how all the superstitions seemed to be true, and just a way of describing life in this world.

But what I really, REALLY loved was how this story completely deconstructs Lovecraftian themes and turns them upside down on their head. Throughout much of the story, there's a strong Lovecraftian horror sense surrounding Mel's origins and why the bees are angry. And in many ways, the truth is pretty horrific, because what happened to Mel's mother is absolutely awful. But if Lovecraft had written the story, Mel would really have been the monster or villain, and ambiguous gender held up as a monstrosity. This story didn't go there at all. This story let Mel own and celebrate Mel's body and differences, and Mel gets to be the hero. The way this story humanized a person surrounded by so much stigma and allowed them to take control of their own destiny was breathtakingly powerful. I'm not surprised at all it won the World Fantasy Award. Thanks for picking it, Dave and Anna.

I'm not sure I agree that it was Lovecraftian. It was much more Gothic - less The Thing on the Doorstep and more The Fall of the House of Usher. Note the lack of wicked external forces manipulating the family, and more the natural (or "unnatural") consequences of their moral failings. In Gothic stories, it's less that the final twisted flowering of the decrepit old family is the monster or the villain; usually they are the victims, struggling helplessly against their fate. It's not that Mel wasn't a monster, it's that Mel was able to successfully create a new possibility for her future and escape her crumbling family.

TL;DR Version: You have noticed something cool, but I think you've got the genre wrong. It's a neat twist on the Gothics, not on the Lovecraftians.

[Varda]

This story was outstanding. I loved how important folklore was to this world, and the characters' interpretation of it, and how all the superstitions seemed to be true, and just a way of describing life in this world.

But what I really, REALLY loved was how this story completely deconstructs Lovecraftian themes and turns them upside down on their head. Throughout much of the story, there's a strong Lovecraftian horror sense surrounding Mel's origins and why the bees are angry. And in many ways, the truth is pretty horrific, because what happened to Mel's mother is absolutely awful. But if Lovecraft had written the story, Mel would really have been the monster or villain, and ambiguous gender held up as a monstrosity. This story didn't go there at all. This story let Mel own and celebrate Mel's body and differences, and Mel gets to be the hero. The way this story humanized a person surrounded by so much stigma and allowed them to take control of their own destiny was breathtakingly powerful. I'm not surprised at all it won the World Fantasy Award. Thanks for picking it, Dave and Anna.

I'm not sure I agree that it was Lovecraftian. It was much more Gothic - less The Thing on the Doorstep and more The Fall of the House of Usher. Note the lack of wicked external forces manipulating the family, and more the natural (or "unnatural") consequences of their moral failings. In Gothic stories, it's less that the final twisted flowering of the decrepit old family is the monster or the villain; usually they are the victims, struggling helplessly against their fate. It's not that Mel wasn't a monster, it's that Mel was able to successfully create a new possibility for her future and escape her crumbling family.

TL;DR Version: You have noticed something cool, but I think you've got the genre wrong. It's a neat twist on the Gothics, not on the Lovecraftians.

Y'know, that's a good point! Thanks for the correction! Yeah, I'm not as familiar with Gothic lit as Lovecraft, so sorry 'bout that. I was thinking more of Lovecraft's obsession with unnatural parentage, and polluted blood causing polluted offspring, a la Innsmouth. But it's an excellent point that "The Telling" doesn't go full-out Cosmic Horror.

[Unblinking]

I was having a bad day when I listened to this, which may account for why I had trouble focusing on it long enough to really get into it--the idea of telling the bees was an interesting one at the least.  I think I need to listen again with a clearer head to say anything worthwhile.

[InfiniteMonkey]

Yeah, I'm not as familiar with Gothic lit as Lovecraft, so sorry 'bout that. I was thinking more of Lovecraft's obsession with unnatural parentage, and polluted blood causing polluted offspring, a la Innsmouth.

No, I get you. I immediately understood the connection with incest and Lovecraft. Though I would agree that it's more Gothic than anything.

[cmb1962]

In general this story was great , It was especially interesting to have an Irish voice reading. The name Mel in Ireland can be applied to both boys and girls , also in Irish "Mi Na Malla" is honeymoon Mill being honey . It is interesting that Mel is the child of abuse and the abuser was "The Lord not Lord"
So her escape with the Queen is to set up her own "hive "

[Devoted135]

Wow, what an interesting story! I definitely guessed Mel's parentage earlier than the story made it absolutely clear, but that wasn't a problem for me at all. There were so many layers and relationships here that I'm sure I would catch new connections upon a re-listen. Loved the narration as well.

[albionmoonlight]

The gender thing was done well.  Halfway through, I thought, "Oh, she's a girl.  I thought she was a boy.  OK."  Then later I realized what the author had done.  No easy feat to write a story in English with gender ambiguity.

The house's fate appears to have been sealed from the point at which the servants allowed the perversion and the false lord in the name of propriety.  Mal's leaving and taking the bees seems like the inevitable end game flowing from that mistake.

I thought that it was interesting and appropriate that Mal chose to leave.  Mal could have tried to stay and take Mal's place as the rightful lord of the house.  But that would not have been right.  And it is not what any kid coming of age really wants.  They want to see the world and escape and make their own way.  And if they can do it with a swarm of bees?  So much the better.

Finally, I know that I am living in an IP-focused world, when I hear the old woman put a salve of Mal's sting and then say "It's propriety."  And I instead hear, "It's proprietary," thinking that she is saying that she does not want to share her salve recipe. 

[Unblinking]

Finally, I know that I am living in an IP-focused world, when I hear the old woman put a salve of Mal's sting and then say "It's propriety."  And I instead hear, "It's proprietary," thinking that she is saying that she does not want to share her salve recipe. 

Well, really, who WOULD want to share their salve recipe?   
(That's a funny swapping in of words--hadn't occurred to me, though I hear the word "proprietary" more often than "propriety" too)

[eytanz]

I've been a bit hesitant to comment on story threads recently because that reveals how far behind I am, but I loved this one so much that I thought I relly should come here to point it out. This was a great story, and a great reading. I did get a bit confused by the servants - especially the gardener and the cook who seemed to have slightly inconsistent characterisations, especially in the way they treated Mel - but that is a very minor niggle in what was a really great tale.

[Unblinking]

I've been a bit hesitant to comment on story threads recently because that reveals how far behind I am

So what?  Comment anyway!  There's no shame in not listening to every episode as it's published.  And I for one like seeing comments on episodes that didn't publish within the last month--brings those stories to mind and might shed new light on them.

[awfulhorrid]

I've been a bit hesitant to comment on story threads recently because that reveals how far behind I am ...

You think you're far behind? (Although admittedly I'm closer to being caught up than I was a few months ago.)

Non-binary gender is a topic I quite enjoy, especially since I identify as genderqueer. I just wanted to say that I'm happy to see not only representation of this, but fairly positive representation at that. Mel's intersex status is blamed on being a product of incest, but it's actually relatively common, depending on criteria used. However they are obviously moving beyond the stigma and getting on with their life, including learning when to walk away from people who are doing them no good.

Yay!