A family returns home from the hospital where the father is spending
some time after falling off the roof after being shot. They are having a
rare snowstorm, and the boys begin to shovel the driveway and walk. The
women try to piece together what has happened. The man who shot the
father has been captured and was a former business partner. They are
also waiting for the return of another family member away at college.
They are worried about him out on the icy roads.
The dread in this story is palpable: the storm, the fate of the college student, knocks on the door, is the father involved in some crime? And then the power goes out.
Bausch takes his time to make you feel what they are feeling. In fact, when a knock came at my own door (something very rare nowadays) I almost fell out of the chair. (It was the mailman).
Bausch understands that the threat of violence can be more frightening than actual violence. He gives you enough information to understand, sort of, what might be going on. The story ends with the woman, standing at an upstairs window, with a loaded gun. The kids wait downstairs baseball bats and knives at the ready. The other woman waits too.
Superb. There are probably pdf's online if you care to read it
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8 comments:
This one sounds so suspenseful, Patti! And it's a good example of how the weather can be used effectively to really notch up the tension.
He's a very good writer indeed
My all new review went live at midnight CDT, as scheduled.
Short Story Wednesday: Crimeucopia - A Load Of Balls Editor John Connor
https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2025/07/short-story-wednesday-crimeucopia-load.html
Kevin R. Tipple
Patti, you're right about Richard Bausch. He's an outstanding writer!
The Bausch (twin) brothers not only taught at George Mason U (my final uni, so far), but were alumni of GMU, which I tend to forget (Robert died in 2018...). Hell, MURDALAND fourished (if that's the word) in 2006, with both issues...19 years ago. Time doesn't slow. Google Books has sucked up the Richard B collection, but chooses not to share the story publicly at this time.
The Earth, shaken , produces a happy mouse: my SSW (a new one, no less), today: https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2025/07/ffbssw-plenitude-by-will.html
I keep meaning to read more of Bausch.
As often happens, you have gotten me interested in a new author of short stories. I could not find a pdf of the story but I have started reading a different story by him ("The Harp Department in Love") from the same book, from a sample at Amazon. I will look for one of his short story books at the book sale; he seems to have published a good number of them, so I should be able to find one.
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