Right this second, as I type this, water mixed with methyl* alcohol is traveling out of my house, into pipes that plunge 110 feet vertically into the ground below my yard, and returning into my house. There, an expensive apparatus extracts the heat from the water and sends it back out to circulate some more.
Sweet.
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* I think. Maybe it’s ethyl. What am I, a chemist?
Well, let’s see: methanol is wood alcohol, ethanol is the stuff that’ll fuck you up. Of course, methanol will fuck you up, too, but not in a good way. I believe that’s the one that’ll blind you if you get drunk on it.
I liked “Neither Bang Nor Whimper.” I’m reviewing a story collection by Paul Meloy (“Islington Crocodiles”) and your story reminded me of some of his stuff. That’s high praise, by the way, since I think Meloy is the best thing since sliced bread.
Thanks for the comments!
So if I don’t win the contest, I should shop this around…
Which was kind of my plan anyway.