William Wei by Amie Barrodale, 2011
The magic trick:
A revenge story that never makes its revenge clear
Seven years before “Cat Person,” there was “William Wei.” Are they related? I think so; I see it.
But am I completely missing the point here or misreading the whole thing? Always possible, if not likely. So read on with a grain of salt.
The man at the center of this story is disconnected from a world where he considers other people’s feelings, needs, or maybe even existence. We meet him at the start of the story, chuckling with police about a naked girl leaving his apartment.
Now it’s important to note the entire story is told in this weird, vague haze. It plays like a drug story – and there are drugs involved – but I read the haze as being more down to the man’s detached, oblivious selfishness. He can’t find his way to logic in this strange story because he’s too far gone into his own concerns.
So then he meets a woman on the phone. There are a lot of ways to interpret her and what happens. But I really do see it as what amounts to a revenge story.
The revenge isn’t as simple or clearly portrayed as a Tarantino revenge movie. But it’s there. It’s happening.
And that’s quite a trick on Barrodale’s part.
The selection:
I once brought a girl home because I liked her shoes. That was the only thing I noticed about her. I live in a really small apartment. A lot of my clothes end up piled on my mattress or draped over the open door of the microwave. I guess the girl with the pink high heels woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t remember where she was. She went out naked in the hall and closed the door behind her. She said that she had asked me, and I told her that was the way to the bathroom, to go out the front door. I don’t remember doing that. I remember I woke up with the cops in my house, asking me if I knew this girl. I said of course, she was the girl with the pink high heels. They thought that was really funny.
As always, join the conversation in the comments section below, on SSMT Facebook or on Twitter @ShortStoryMT.
Subscribe to the Short Story Magic Tricks Monthly Newsletter to get the latest short story news, contests and fun.
Short Story Magic Tricks 