Reviewed: - (Review Updated: )
Wow. Something I never expected. A fine story that achieved a Reader's Score of only 7, and that's after my 10 was included. [comment: these scores refer to the former scoring of Stories Online, where a 7 was similar to a 4 of today]
I don't usually read many stories below an 8, even when the topic is one that pushes my buttons. Usually the technical quality is so low that I am completely put off by the "constent mispellings and, bad puncuation and invective word choise." But that is not what I expect from Russell Hoisington. His other stories that I've read are literate and articulate, imaginative and exciting.
So when I read his "G'Night Pixie" blurb about the desert island, husband and wife and thirteen-year-old daughter—and having read his "Wynter King," a story similar in theme—I decided to give it a shot. I read Chapter 1; no hint of a 7 there. Chapters 2, 3, 4 and on. Well-written with a good design and good flow to the story. Well-edited, devoid of constant misspellings, bad punctuation and ineffective word choice.
"G'Night Pixie" appeared to be something like an alternate version of "Wynter King" in a different setting with different people. But the 7 still didn't make sense. We romantic fools on SOL love good sex stories that demonstrate deep and abiding love and heroic triumph over challenges—even if we've seen the plot and the characters a dozen times before.
Why the 7? Hmmm. As the story continued, main character Doug Bryant began to have increasingly dark thoughts and worries as the shipwrecked life began to prey on his mind, to interfere with the free spirit he and his wife had known for years. Worry and pressure and guilt and fear grew—almost as if he were being consumed.
Read the story. Its sex play is mostly in the beginning; and as the story progresses and the characterization deepens, "G'Night Pixie" gives an alternate view of our playful fantasies and their implications. It wasn't intended to be a stroke story despite its seemingly perfect setting for one.
I still don't understand the 7, but I can see why some people didn't like content of the story; just because, for example, I might not like the callous and murderous content of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood shouldn't mean that the book's rating ought to suffer—and it didn't. So also for "G'Night Pixie"; read it and go with the flow of the story, not with preconceived notions. Pay attention to the hints that Russell Hoisington plants as the story develops, and you will be able to follow where it leads. It's a good story and fits into the 9-10 range on SOL.