Drabblecast 048 - The Destiny of Man

[Mr. Tweedy]

Feature The Destiny of Man by Drew Arrants

I'd like to talk to you, son, about the destiny of man. We have a few minutes left before our walk is over, so let's talk, man to man.....

Drabble - Death at Bowling by Keith Burnett

[Skot]

(Regarding The Drabble) – How did the narrator of this first person story know the glad reaper smiled?

(Regarding The Story) – Wouldn’t the worms want a BIG person to eat, rather than a school-aged child?

[Derm]

do you eat lamb, chicken or veal? Or egg, for that matter? Or child... okay, forget I suggested this last one.

[Skot]

Yep, yep, yep, yep...no comment.

Sure to a worm - any sized human is a feast... but what are humans eating that they can't pass to the worms that isn't less... human?

Are worms really that picky? Is NO one dying of accidents?

[snonker]

The worm story was pretty good. what i liked more was how norm read the end. it sounds sincere in hope, and is freakier than i could imagine it to be written down.
good story, not great though

[Mr. Tweedy]

I found this to be a bit boring and a bit clichéd. The character(s) are one-dimensional, the premise is common and there isn't really any plot.

That said, I really liked the portrayal of the father's attitude. Humans have been reduced to farm animals, and he's proud of it. Rather than react with horror, disgust or anger at the fact that he is being forced to give up his son to be eaten alive(!), he invents a story that makes things seem okay, normal, even pleasant. The way he convinced himself to be happy about his situation was chilling. That is so like people, who will tell themselves any lie to maintain a sense of normalcy.

I thought the drabble was hilarious! What a great joke. "Why is Death going skating?" we wonder, "Is someone going to die in the"–BAM! Perfect execution (pun intended).

[normsherman]

Yah, if I had written it I might have included something about why the worms demanded tribute from humans specifically-for all that they have done for us? Or made some distinction why human children must be used. That could have been creepy and effective.
Overall though, I liked it for exactly the reasons Mr Tweedy mentioned.

[G. E. Lee]

Fun story! I get the idea that the author is trying to make a point, but I feel like I'm missing it.

Incidently, the worms might prefer young humans for the same reason we prefer small, young fish: as an animal gets older, it's body accumulates persistant toxins from it's environment, spoiling the taste and sometimes becoming dangerous to eat.

On a stranger note, this is the second time today I've explained the rationale for eating younger people versus older people, on unrelated topics. Should I be concerned?

[Philippa]

(Regarding The Drabble) – How did the narrator of this first person story know the glad reaper smiled?

You clearly don't watch enough movies/read enough comics...

I enjoyed the story even though it chucked up too many questions if you pondered it too hard (were these earthworms? Shouldn't it be maggots? Have we had enough maggot stories? Can you have too many maggot stories on the Drabblecast?) My first thought was that some kind of religious nuttery had caused humans to do away with all animals that ate other animals - a global vegan cult perhaps.

[G. E. Lee]

I thought the worms were "space" worms.

[Philippa]

I thought the worms were "space" worms.

Well yeah, but space worms that get eaten by birds, need corpses to survive and live in a park...

[Skot]

You clearly don't watch enough movies/read enough comics...

I’m taking this as a compliment. A big old hairy compliment.

[strawman]

I think it makes sense that spaceworms would prefer free range children.

[vburn]

Thanks to all for the comments on the drabble. Norm made this a much better story then the writing did, great work as always Norm. I really did see a Grim Reaper walk out of the bowling alley one day and head next door to the skating rink. It was probably for some party and the bowling alley has a bigger bath room to change into the costume (I hope it was a costume). It was a disturbing site to see at the time.

I thought the problem with this weeks main event was the old "show, don't tell" rule. Dialoge driven stories are hard to do, and with only one speaker it is 100 times harder. I have seen it pulled off, in fact How Lonesome a Life without Nerve Gas http://escapepod.org/2007/01/25/ep090-h ... me-a-life/ is one of my favorite stories. I am afraid this story fell flat for me.

Once again, thanks for comments on Death at the Bowling Alley.

Keith Burnett

[Philippa]

Doh, I totally forgot to mention I loved the drabble this week! I couldn't help picturing Terry Pratchett's death character. "BOWLING? WELL, ALRIGHT SUSAN, SINCE IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY..."

[tbaker2500]

Doh, I totally forgot to mention I loved the drabble this week! I couldn't help picturing Terry Pratchett's death character. "BOWLING? WELL, ALRIGHT SUSAN, SINCE IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY..."

Ah yes, but then Death wouldn't have been smiling. And he would have stopped to pet the alleycat.


The drabble was fun. I imagine this as just one of the creative ways Death keeps his job interesting.

Main story:
The raw optimism displayed by the father was to me the focus of the story, pointing out the compromises we make every day. And who doesn't deal with worms of one sort or another in their life?

I couldn't help but put a theme song to the invasion.
"The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out..."

[Mr. Tweedy]

It's one thing to accept the worms as a reality that must be dealt with for the moment. It's quite another to love the worms and construct your self-image around them.

Sure, there are worms in my life, but I want to get rid of them.

[tbaker2500]

Yes, but this is an old staple of Scifi. Focus on how someone could react, not necessarily the way a smart person would react.

IMHO, many Twilight Zone episodes fall directly in the same category. They often focus on the worst side of humanity under stressful situations, rather than letting cooler heads prevail.

This father was missing a few marbles, no doubt. (Cat's eye?)

Tom

[bolddeceiver]

It's one thing to accept the worms as a reality that must be dealt with for the moment. It's quite another to love the worms and construct your self-image around them.

Because nobody did that in mid-20th-century Germany? (Or any number of other historical examples, not picking on any one people or time.)

[Mr. Tweedy]

Oh, yeah people really act like that. That's why I said

The way he convinced himself to be happy about his situation was chilling. That is so like people, who will tell themselves any lie to maintain a sense of normalcy.

I'm just saying that's a bad way to be. This is an example of how people should not behave, not a positive example to follow.

Don't love the worms!


...And Bolddeceiver is the first person to allude to Hitler on our forums!! Ding-ding-ding!