Just before his high school graduation, an orphan boy is starting to feel unspecial. Is he a loser or is something more sinister going on?

(from The Atlantic, Fiction Issue 2005)

Something more sinister is going on. Now somebody tell me, is Joyce Carol Oates sci-fi? Because the only things I’ve read by her for I Read A Short Story Today have had these sneaky sci-fi underpinnings, but, like, slowly revealed so you’re thinking, well, there’s no reason to suspect anything sinister just yet. Then, you know, boom.
(I’m thinking of the story “The Fabled Lighthouse at Viña del Mar,” which I wrote about here.) Not that there’s anything wrong if she is all sci-fi, it’s just, I didn’t know.
I liked this story. Felt bad for the kid. His usual teen awkwardness being supplemented and reinforced by a feel that he doesn’t quite fit in. I saw the twist coming a mile away, but hey.

I bought The Atlantic‘s Fiction Issue 2005 at Borders.
I went to the highly regarded Bookhaven (22nd and Fairmount, in Philly) for the first time ever. Now I too hold it in high regard (even though the short story comp section is small and a little too close to the cat’s food dish) because I got George Saunders’ Pastoralia, which I’d been looking for forever. I also got, gasp, two books by David Eggers. Since they’re books, I’m not sure I’ll actually read them, but I’ve been thinking about it. Just experimenting. I’ll still read short stories. It’s not cheating. It’s not.