Petition by David J. Schow

[Eeegor]

Abel Swift bandaged up his hand as best he could, given that there were no dressings or hydrogen peroxide in the apartment. To buy that kind of stuff from a bodega he would have to hump down six floors of stairs, and Abel hated exerting himself to waste money. He mummied up his hand with one of his wife's halter tops tied in a knot, which gifted him with a bonus twinge of revenge. It served her right.

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[Circle V]

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. While the writing was a bit too fancy, particularly in the prayer portion of the story, the whole premise was interesting and different. Abel's character was too simple for my tastes, but I suppose that there's only so much character development that can go on in a short story. The dialogue toward the end substituted profanity for subtlety and suffered for it.

Despite my bitching, I really did enjoy the story. Abel was saufficiently slimy, the premise was quite original, and the detail was vivid. A fine job by Mr. Schow.