I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 10, 2023] “Pups”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Kate Folk.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 1. To officially kick off the 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar, here are some iron-clad rules for writing your own short story by the author of Cop House.

This story was a mini rollercoaster for me.  I enjoyed the tone and the location (an aquarium), but it was  rather heartbreaking on many levels too.

Roe cares for the otter pups.  Pups who have been rescued have to go back into the wild eventually, so they cannot bond with humans.  The humans are also not supposed to bond with the pups, so no names–although Roe does name some of her favorites.

The story opens with the announcement of a bomb threat to the aquarium. Roe sees Dan on the lawn when she evacuates the building.  He waves and smiles.  She waves back but does not go to him.  Rather, she stands with Elizabeth, who is the person who releases the otters back into the sea.  Elizabeth is sort of cold and businesslike, but Roe likes that about her.

Then the story flashes back.  Roe’s husband has been sent on a yearlong business trip to Greenland.  He invited her along and she could have gone (she doesn’t make much at the aquarium), but she dithered and eventually, Jacob had to go without her.

A few months later at  the holiday party, missing her husband, Roe dragged Dan to a camera-free location and had sex with him.  She doesn’t really like Dan and regretted it immediately.  Dan is also married, but that’s not what upset Roe particularly.

Soon enough she discovers she is pregnant.  She and Jacob had been trying to conceive, but the Greenland trip put thing on hold.  Jacob will be home soon for a visit but he will do the math.

Elizabeth seems to recognize that she is pregnant almost immediately (she’s not showing, but Elizabeth is perceptive) and she insists that Roe not tell Dan. Roe would just get rid of it, but it feels wrong given how hard she’s been trying to get pregnant.

She has options, but we’ve already seen how indecisive she is.

I was particularly upset that the bomb threat proved to be real and there were casualties (especially the jellyfish).  I was angry that we didn’t learn who did it–surely PETA wasn’t behind it since it killed so many animals.