| "Middle Woman" | |
| Author | Orson Scott Card |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Published in | Dragons of Darkness |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Publication date | 1981 |
"Middle Woman" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is a bestselling American Author, Critic, political writer and speaker. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Dragons of Darkness (1981 is a short story collection edited by Orson Scott Card. Ace Books is the oldest active specialty Publisher of Science fiction and Fantasy books Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. The year 1981 in literature involved some significant events and new books Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is a bestselling American Author, Critic, political writer and speaker. It appears in his short story collections Cardography and Maps in a Mirror. Cardography (1987 is a short story collection by Orson Scott Card. Maps in a Mirror (1990 is a collection of short stories by Orson Scott Card. Card originally published this in an anthology collection he was editing called Dragons of Darkness under the name Byron Walley. Dragons of Darkness (1981 is a short story collection edited by Orson Scott Card. Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is a bestselling American Author, Critic, political writer and speaker.
Contents |
Plot summary
"Middle Woman" is the story of woman who at first seems very average. She is neither rich nor poor but somewhere in the middle. She is the middle child in her family and lives between her two sisters who live thirty leagues to the north and to south of her. A league is a unit of Length or Area long common in Europe and Latin America, although no longer an official unit in any nation One day while traveling to see one of her sisters she meets a dragon on the road. The dragon is a Legendary creature of which some interpretation or depiction appears in almost every culture worldwide He tells her that he will either eat her or grant her three wishes. She decides to take the three wishes and then wishes that her husband’s farm will produce enough food to support her family forever. The dragon flies to her house and eats her family so that no matter how much food the farm produces it will always be enough. Realizing that the dragon only wants to trick her, the woman wishes that everything in the world would go back to the way it was before she left her house that morning. Instantly she is back in her home and decides not to go see her sister so that she will not meet the dragon again. Although she is now safe, it occurs to the woman that she still has one wish. However, she wisely decides not to use it. Instead she saves it for a day when she needs it. When she is old and about to die the dragon comes to her and tells her that if she doesn’t use the wish before she dies that he will die as well. The woman wishes that the dragon and everyone he meets will be happy and dies peacefully.
Byron Walley
Byron Walley is one of Orson Scott Card's pseudonyms. A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) Card chose to publish "Middle Woman" under the name Byron Walley because his short story "A Plague of Butterflies" was also appearing in the book Dragons of Darkness under his real name. "A Plague of Butterflies" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. Dragons of Darkness (1981 is a short story collection edited by Orson Scott Card.
Audio
In addition to the text versions of the story, "Middle Woman" is also available as an audio download in the March 2006 issue of Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show. InterGalactic Medicine Show (sometimes shortened to IGMS) is an American online fantasy and Science fiction magazine. The story was read by Mary Robinette Kowal and recorded at Willamette Radio Workshop.
See also
External links
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