The Ye Ol’ Puddin’ Caper

zine review:

The Ye Ol’ Puddin’ Caper

The title isn’t trying to be overly subtle or clever, this short novel really is about pudding that is part of a caper. Three young girls are having a sleepover and, as can be expected of the situation, the night is filled with cruelty and flightiness, deception and deceit. There is talk about sex. There is cruel name calling. And there is toilet humour.

There is also a midnight snack raid on the fridge that leads to the discovery of the bowl of pudding of an indeterminate age. The automatic dish washing machine rouses the parents upstairs, which sends the girls scrambling for the shadows. Once the coast is clear, the bowl of pudding is missing. Where did it go? Who took it? The toilet humour answers that question.

Simple, but well written, I did not have any trouble believing the cruelty of little girls as The Ye Ol’ Puddin’ Caper lays bare. Because of that, I found the story more disturbing than anything else. (Terry Harjanto)

Chapbook, Aaron Mancyzk, mancyzkj13@ hotmail.com, familycontact.ca