| For the past, well, too long, I’ve let myself drift into a world of days that just kind of happen. There are reasons for that. It’s all fine, really. I mean, life is tough sometimes. It’s all good. But it’s not my style to be so reactive, and I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to be in control of things in my life at least to the degree I can be. As I’m sitting here on Thanksgiving day, I’ve decided the first real step is to get myself acquainted once again to meeting deadlines. What better then, than to give myself one single deadline every day? Enter the WMG Holiday Spectacular—which is a great project that releases a story every day. So here’s the deal: Every day I’m going to read the story that gets sent out during the Holiday Spectacular, then I’m going to come here and peck out a few words about that story. I don’t know what form those words will take. They might be a “classic” review. They may be just a few bits on how the story made me feel, or simply how I reacted to something there. They might be comments on the writer, or not. Bottom line here is this: the first two years of this project saw me involved in the workshop that served as the front end of the process, so I’d read the stories before they were officially published. This time, for pandemic reasons (and other) I have no idea what’s coming. So for the first time I’m entering this project as a totally clean slate. That’s kind of exciting. The anticipation that came along with the idea made me realize I don’t have to do anything routine. This is my place. I’m going to give myself total freedom to react in any way that makes sense. |
“A Little Night Music”
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The first story released as part of this project was a test simply to ensure the subscribers would be able to receive the story. That’s a great idea, really. Kudos to the gang. Don’t wait to find out if the process works, and train newer people on how to operate the process all before the real fireworks start.
Since it’s a test story it makes sense that “A Little Night Music” is a reprint, having appeared first back in 1991.
Kris Rusch is, in my opinion, a wildly under-rated writer of short stories and this is an example of why I say that. It’s quite short. Just a few moments to read. Still it’s packed with a lot of stuff. The protagonist is a young boy waiting in a classroom after school has let out. Or is the protagonist the teacher? It doesn’t matter. Just as it doesn’t really matter that—as the title requires—Mozart’s music is a focal point.
“A Little Night Music” is a timeless piece, though—and it carries a thought that I really, really needed to hear. Being so short it’s something I’d be willing to have delivered to me every year. This makes me ponder if this could be a tradition within a tradition. An annual reading of this one wouldn’t be a bad idea.