My Deal Me In deck turned up hearts again this week, which sent me back to East of the Web. And what should I see right off the bat but a story by Frederick Pohl, one of my favorite science fiction writers? So I read it.
Pythias
by Frederick Pohl
It begins with the narrative character murdering a man who saved his life and calling the police on himself.
The bulk of the short short story is a flashback, glossing over how the characters met, lost touch, and came back together.
The climactic incident shows the victim to be in possession of very dangerous knowledge, for which the narrator kills him. The victim can’t be trusted with such knowledge. No one can. Except guess who.
Pohl might be a writer’s writer: His style is transparent and his flow is flawless. The story has no pyrotechnics, but the simple telling makes the outlandish content feel realistic.
Highly recommended.
A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Write about a secret.
MA
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
December 10, 2018 at 2:13pmGood conclusion. Twist story – and you don’t know if he will choose to save himself.
Jay
December 10, 2018 at 8:17amI’ve read some Pohl stories in the past, but don’t know if I’ve ever included any in my iterations of the Deal Me In challenge. Maybe 2019 will be different. I’ve also used East of the Web as a frequent resource for reading material. There’s really almost an inexhaustible amount of short story challenge “fodder” available for free on the internet. I like the title of your story this week too. Always happy to see “Classical” references popping up in more contemporary work!
Marian Allen
December 10, 2018 at 9:11amI got the East of the Web URL from you, as a matter of fact. 🙂