Review – Gremlins
Gremlins is another dual meaning title and piece.
Background
The prompt was about breaking down.
Later Days
I decided to go a bit silly but also capture a moment in the later lives of Lili, Doug, and Malcolm. I had already established, in Fortune, that Lili suffers from some mild hearing loss near the end of her life. Hence the idea was to explore the origins of that issue, but to do so in a more or less humorous fashion.
Plot
On August 28, 2164, Malcolm and Doug investigate a mysterious pinging sound. The story opens with the two of them underneath Lili’s car, working on it. In canon, Malcolm is established as not being an engineer, of course, but he is still able to take some minor things apart and perform some repairs. I wanted Doug, who in some ways is the consummate ‘man’s man’ to have a bit of an ability to tinker with things.
Eventually, the guys figure out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Lili’s car. At dinner that evening, she is the only one to hear a pinging sound. Unspoken, this is not Lili hearing things as if she were insane. Rather, she is beginning to suffer from tinnitus.
Story Postings
- Gremlins original posting
- Gremlins on Fanfiction.net
- In addition, Gremlins on Fictionpad
- Gremlins in context
Rating
The story is rated K.
Upshot
I like the little domestic drama (I tend to write a lot of small domestic dramas for this family), but because I never really spell out what is going on with Lili, the story is somewhat unclear. It would be better to, in some fashion, clarify that the sound is not a sign of mental illness, but instead is a sign of a creeping auditory problem.
But the family is still, on the whole, happy. It’s a problem, yes, but not a major one.
Like this page? Tweet it!
You can find me on Google+.
