The Blue Girl and a Reminder of Harlan Ellison

Lauren Foos "The Blue Girl" was a pretty interesting read.  I got a feeling like some indie horror/suspense film.  The plot was kind of disjointed, but had enough congruity to make it a good read.  You have this strange skinned blue girl, of whom, the rest of the characters are afraid, save Audrey.  The feeling of the story is mysterious, and I like that.   It leaves you thinking "What the hell is this all about?".  I think in some cases having a sort of indefinite ending benefits a story.  Considering it was part of a novel that was kept around, it makes me think that this story has something much more to it.

I like that the blue girl doesn't speak.  She's totally mysterious.  You don't get the impression of what is really going on with her while these women share their secret moonpies.  The old woman that tends to her is just as mysterious.   They don't know who she is.  I could really see this short story being put into a strange short film. The descriptions of the places, such as walking up to the house, give you a sort of cinematic view in your mind as you read. I guess that is what you are really going for when you read a story, right?

I was rather fond of this little piece.  Something about this story makes me ffeel like there is something underlying the whole tale.  Maybe it is some kind of supernatural thing, that's just the feeling I get from it.  You know, creepy little mute blue girl who lurks around at night and people in town are afraid of her breath, equally creepy old lady who watches over this child...It's got a very eerie feeling to it.   I can dig that.  It's creepy in a few ways...first you have the premise of this strange blue child, then you have this child drowning, the adults do nothing, the daughter of the narrator saves the child, then they are baking marshmallow moon pies and telling this seemingly clairvoyant or magical child about their secrets through baking.   It's pretty freaky shit.   I think you could really wig some people out with the story.

I don't know if it was intended to be a scary kinda thing...But I think that the enigmas left in the story itself are kind of scary in their own right.   After all one of the most prominent fears in the world is the fear of the unknown.

Briefly...Roni Natov's piece reminds me of a short story I read in high school.   That was like 10 years ago, but I still remember the story.  I can't remember who wrote it.  Or what the real title of the piece was.  But pretty sure it was Harlan Ellison.   Until the Reparations reminded me of that story.   Maybe it was just because it was about homeless people, I don't know.   But, the piece by Ellison was damn good.   Natov's piece was interesting, not separating dialogue from the rest of the piece.  It flowed well.   The way in which the dialogue is written gives the piece good flow.  Also, it is easy to determine what is a "speech act" without having to put it in " " s...