In this story by Elizabeth Bowen, car trouble on a deserted country road results in a woman spending several unsettling hours with an amazon of a woman and her seemingly psychic, paralyzed daughter. Her partner has walked to a nearby village to get help, and she becomes increasingly anxious. She falls asleep, and is in the middle of a disturbing dream when her partner returns in a taxi and rudely whisks her away. While in the village, he had heard a frightening rumor about the family. Themes include isolation and alienation, insecurity, emptiness, alternative reality (the white circle), rumor.
Original Text / PDF (4,050 words)