"on Tuesday it rained horned toads"

[sergebroom]

For some reason, the December 2007 issue of Realms of Fantasy was late showing up in my mailbox, but as is usually the case was well worth the wait. It had, among others, a tale of Lord Yamada by Richard Parks where he main character has to deal with the angry spirit of a mountain while also going on rehab. In Sandra McDonald’s The Firemen’s Fairy, a veteran recently returned from Iraq discovers that his fire station’s mascot, a literal fairy, has more courage in his tiny body than he does. The White Isle, by Von Carr, is inhabited by a girl who sinks ships that come too close to her home.

My favorite story was Joe Murphy’s On Tuesday It Rained Horned Toads, set in the 1950’s Texas. Things are not going well for farmers Jacob and Beth. Not only is there a drought, but they have to constantly keep an eye on Walter, their autistic son who is oblivious to all things that a farm has that could hurt him, when he is not obsessed with spinning a hubcap again and again and again while lost in a world of his own. Then one day a girl shows up. Her name is Sprockly and she is made of wood.

Ker-thunk. Jacob didn’t have to turn to know that sound. But he saw the wooden girl’s eyebrows, brows that looked to be painted on yet still arched. He wanted to stare but it wouldn’t have been good manners. Instead he followed her gaze. Walter again, crouched on the porch where he’d been the whole time. A wooden girl didn’t matter; nothing mattered to the boy now that he was once more twirling that damned hubcap.

“What an interesting game!” Sprockly rose, took a step, and turned to Jacob. “Could I give it a try?” She smoothed her dress eagerly. “I mean, if it’s all right after we eat.”

Then the mechanical toads show up.