This month I am participating in the A to Z blog challenge. http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

The challenge involves 26 posts in April, all somehow connected to the alphabet. My theme for the month is short stories. The Story Factory needs market research, of course, so I will be reading a short story for each letter of the alphabet and trying to learn some new techniques for my story writing. My lacks seem to be characterization and emotional experience, so I am mainly looking for stories to teach me those things. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments if you know of an amazing story. Another component of the challenge is the blog road trip, where we visit each other’s blogs, leave comments, etc. While I would like to visit a couple of blogs every day, it is more realistic to do Road Trips on Sundays. (Of course, my ongoing, 52 bad story challenge is still on, as well as the 2021 creative hours in 2021.

The Most Dangerous Game ~ Richard Connell
Rainsford, the protagonist of this tale by Richard Connell, is an avid hunter. He is also an expert on the sport, having hunted worldwide and writing about his adventures. So when he falls overboard from a yacht en route to his next hunting expedition, he is rescued and welcomed by a fan of his books, General Zaroff. Zaroff himself is an expert hunter, except he has found himself bored hunting as of late. Guns and intelligence have made most game for him unchallenging.

Zaroff and Rainsford entertain each other with hunting stories until Zaroff begins to tell Rainsford of his boredom, of his desire to match wits with his prey, rather than just find it and shoot it. As Zaroff describes his discovery of the most dangerous game, the reader, in Rainsford’s point of view, starts to feel a growing terror. Zaroff belittles Rainsford for his morals and invites him to a hunt in the morning. When Rainsford refuses, stating he is no murderer, Zaroff’s countenance lets all know that Rainsford will go hunting, and in fact, will not be the hunter but the hunted.

Connell tells the story from Rainsford’s point of view, and the reader feels the emotions by Connell’s description of the physical pain and panic. The tension is perfectly drawn throughout the hunt. There are long paragraphs of assessment and planning and short staccato paragraphs of spine-tingling action. Zaroff, who seems like a gentleman, though Cossak, slowly morphs into the sociopath he truly is, and Connell shows this through the General’s treatment of his servant and his dogs.

This is not a story I had read before, so I am glad I had to find an M story for the A to Z challenge.

Road Trip!!

https://www.literacious.com/ Laura is blogging tips to encourage life long readers.

I’m totally jealous of all the places in https://wilburstravels.com/

Enjoying the A to Z photography at https://bobscotney.blogspot.com/