The Water Eater

by Winston K. Marks

I just lost a weekend. I ain't too anxious to find it. Instead, I sure wish I had gone fishing with McCarthy and the boys like I'd planned. I drive a beer truck for a living, but here it is almost noon Monday and I haven't turned a wheel. Sure, I get beer wholesale, and I have been known to take some advantage of my discount. But that wasn't what happened to this weekend. Instead of fishing or bowling or poker or taking the kids down to the amusement park over Saturday and Sunday, I've been losing sleep over an experiment. Down at the Elks' Club, the boys say that for a working stiff I have a very inquiring mind. I guess that's because they always see me reading Popular Science and Scientific American and such, instead of heading for the stack of Esquires that are piled a foot deep in the middle of the big table in the reading room, like the rest of them do.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction

22 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2011

About the author

Born Winston Kinney Marks, this US writer of sf short stories also wrote as Win Marks and used the pseudonyms Win Kinney and Ken Winney, each for just one story. He began publishing with "Mad Hatter" for Unknown in May 1940, but then, after "Manic Perverse" (October 1941 Astounding), was not heard of again until 1953 when he published The Water Eater (June 1953 Galaxy; 2010 ebook). He was then quite prolific, publishing nearly 60 further stories to 1959, with two final SF Magazine appearances in the late 1960s.

Reviews

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

🖊 Here is a great little story about a blob., with a dénouement that is a killer diller. I enjoyed reading this.
📙 This book was published in Galaxy Science Fiction, June 1953
🟢The e-book version can be found on Project Gutenberg.
🟣Kindle.
🔲 Excerpts of note:

🔹Then I got the feeling that someone was staring over my shoulder. There was. It was Lottie, and she had a look of horror on her face that didn't help my nerves a bit. "Get rid of it, Charlie!" she cried. "Get rid of it! Please throw it out!" "Now, now, honey," I said. "It ain't alive." "It is!" she insisted.

🔸Most experiments were dropped because they failed—and some because they worked too well! just lost a weekend. I ain't too anxious to find it. Instead, I sure wish I had gone fishing with McCarthy and the boys like I'd planned. I drive a beer truck for a living, but here it is almost noon Monday and I haven't turned a wheel. Sure, I get beer wholesale, and I have been known to take some advantage of my discount. But that wasn't what happened to this weekend.

🚀●▬●💫🪐💫●▬●🚀

[Zen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny how this little story pulls you into its grasp without you really thinking about just how silly it all really is. It's something about the detached tone the author takes makes you forget about the stuff Lotti had washed down the sink. As a reader you become so fascinated by Charlie's experimentation with the glob, that everything else fades into the background.

Sort of has a K. Vonnegut 'Cat's Cradle' vibes about it.

Always found these kind of short silly sci-fi stories a lot of fun.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining listening 🎶🔰

Another will written fantasy adventure thriller short story by Winston K. Marks about a man 🚹 who puts together a mixture that is alive and eats all kinds of water as fast as is it can get it. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022 👒😉

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Blob.

Old fashioned sci fi. Winston k marks brings us a story of home chemistry. This story is very similar to the movie version of the blob. Why do some people feel threatened by a non specific threat?

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sentient jello, with skin, hair, teeth, and bones, battles sentient jello. N.B.-I realize Jell-O is a registered trademark of Kraft Heinz, but jello is the genericized version. Yes, I could have simply written jelly, but where’s the fun in that? 🪼 Jell-O®️ fish!

[Luke John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little home DIY blob story with an amusingly detached protagonist.

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly basic golden age of sci-fi short story. Quick read to pass a few mins.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ewww...okay...

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird, Scifi, short story, strange cleaning compound.

[Ray Daley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd, but okay.

[James Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the tone the story was written in. The story was interesting as well. A horror story wrapped up in science fiction.