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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Accenting the Accent: "Dinner on a Flying Saucer" by Dean Wesley Smith


This short story first appeared in Denise Little's anthology, Front Lines. It is also available as a stand-alone ebook for $2.99.

Summary:
Wife, Ethel, approaches narrator with a shotgun. He claims to have been abducted by aliens, had dinner, and left their sucker marks on him--not human hickeys.
Spoiler/Discussion:
Is this an SF story of a slipstream one?

Ethel doesn't believe him, and it becomes difficult for the reader as well. When his wife scoffs that he'd do anything with the widow Mattie, he seems to take it as a challenge, intimating that he may pay her a visit. However, he does appear to believe his own bluster. See quote referenced below to decide what you think  actually happened.

It is also a story focused on voice--a Southern one.

Quote:
"I bet the widow Mattie would be real grateful like, and maybe give me a ride like she’d done to Chester. Especially when she found out I was a real war hero and all, keepin’ the world safe from them stick-slug invasions."

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