Bits

by R.A. Busby

“Bits” By R.A. BusbyElementary schoolteacher Nadie Denneby is having a terrible day. Not only has her car been wrecked on the way to work, but she feels like she's falling apart―literally. At first it's just a tooth. Then a finger. How many bits of herself can she lose?Writing about her protagonist Nadie Denneby, R.A. Busby said: “I started thinking about her when I was nearing the completion of my novel. Around that time, I went to an elementary school for a workshop, an experience I found personally unsettling. Friendly flower-covered signs were everywhere: Don’t walk on the right side of the hall; cover your mouth; wash your hands; put your coat in the cubby; sit on the blue squares for circle reading and so on. When I had to use the teachers’ bathroom, I realized I’d come to the true heart of the place. The facilities were as I described them in the story, though I left out the Pottery Barn-style furniture. I started imagining the life of a teacher in this place that was all about regimentation, order, and of course, the complete denial of the female body. I thought, ‘Why, you wouldn’t even be allowed to possess something as embarrassing as toes, with all their clefts, much less anything else. Your body should be smooth all the way down, like Barbie.’ Around then, I had also been thinking of women’s invisibility. Women take on a kind of invisibility past their forties, and I toyed with my protagonist becoming invisible herself, but I didn’t like the idea because (ironically) the process of turning invisible would actually attract attention, and besides, how would you function? Could you still drive? That’s when I came up with the idea that my protagonist was literally falling apart bit by bit, a fact she would feel ashamed of and have to conceal. Nadie Denneby’s name is a double pun, actually, a combination of the Spanish word for ‘nobody’ and the Irish for ‘no one’ (duine ar bith). Throughout her life, Nadie’s obeyed the rules: she’s covered her mouth and walked on the right side of the hall, and as an elementary teacher, she’s instructed children to do the same. Finally, she comes to the realization that a lifetime of obeying the rules―of toeing the line, if you’ll forgive the joke―has brought her nothing.”(with a cover by Adrian Baldwin)

Genres: Horror

46 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2020

About the author

Winner of the 2020 Shirley Jackson Award for Short Fiction for her story "Not the Man I Married" (Black Petals, Issue #93), R.A. Busby has published a number of stories, including "Bits" (Demain Publishing), "Holes" (Kandisha Press), "Cactusland" (34 Orchard) and others. Check out Creepy Podcast for "A Short Happy Life" and Pseudopod Episode 809, "A Pearl Red as Sin." When she's not writing, R.A. Busby is probably out in the wilderness somewhere.

Reviews

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

BITS is the story of a middle school teacher who is feeling invisible. To make things worse, parts of her body are casually coming loose and then...falling off. Nadie Denneby is falling apart.
Earlier this year, I read a story called HOLES by R. A. Busby in an anthology called, GRAVEYARD SMASH. Here is what I had to say about it at the time,

"HOLES by R. A. Busby- Perfect "first story" because it's fast-paced and deals with a fairly well-known fear, trypophobia (of which I am a sufferer). This is the tale of a woman who suffers a fear of holes. She embarks on a series of therapeutic attempts to lessen or eliminate her fear but to no avail. This has a great ending."

I'm mentioning it for this review of BITS because the fear-factor is strikingly familiar. There's an insidious, psychological subtly about both stories. HOLES tapped a phobia of mine and now BITS just manufactured a new phobia! Not cool!
I was halfway through BITS when my eyes got droopy and I went to sleep--I dreamed about my teeth loosening and ultimately falling out! It was terrifying. Busby got in my head. This is a great short story. Busby's brand of horror is specifically suited to me.

[Steve Stred · Rating 4 out of 5]

** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **

‘Bits’ was a interesting read. It is split into three fairly unique parts; beginning, middle and end. In this case though, those parts are threaded together into three very well thought out and fleshed out parts.

We open with a car accident, a teacher is involved. This incident seems to kick-start a downward spiral for Nadie, as she starts to feel ‘off.’ In the middle section or part two, Nadie has finally gone and visited a physician and we learn and find out how things have progressed. In the ending or part three, we see everything come full circle and Nadie has decided how her life will play out.

I really enjoyed each part on their own, but also liked how they flowed, how things worked together to create this emotionally charged story about a woman grasping at things, trying to get people to hear her, understand her and to see just what she’s going through.

Think this one is a great piece for many horror fans and one I’m glad I snagged.

[Ross Jeffery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this offering from R.A Busby my first time reading this author.

I love these short sharp shocks as they open readers up to new and engaging voices, ones you may not have discovered and ones that need to be discovered - and that can be said about Busby.

This story centres on a character who feels as though she isn’t seen, isn’t noticed, that seems to be ambling though life - I enjoyed the way that Busby manifests this into an almost disappearing act right before our eyes, you see she is like a leper on a trampoline - she’s falling to pieces right before her eyes, a finger here, a nose there, bits falling off in the shower... but what does she need to do to be seen, to be recognised and appreciated.

This deals with mental health issues - or that’s what I got from it, isolation, aloneness, feelings of inadequacy- or maybe that’s just me, with regards to what has been happening this year with Covid, I feel that a lot of people have not been seen, have been struggling with isolation and this book puts those feelings front and centre.

A fabulous little offering that has made me curious to check out more of Busby’s work!

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in the mood for something short and sharp, and this fit perfectly. 😁

Nadie Denneby is a schoolteacher having a really bad day. It all starts with a car accident, and ends in broken pieces...

I really enjoyed this unsettling story! It was easy to feel bad for Nadie because everything that happened to her was out of her control, and was truly terrifying.

She was so nice and harmless, and all I wanted to do was help her.

I mean, who hasn't had those awful dreams about losing teeth for no apparent reason? *cringe* I know I have. It's a total nightmare, which is actually what reading this story felt like. It was like being caught up in a creepy dream that draws you under in a very unexpected way. And the ending drops a few final surprises before letting the reader go.

This is another great addition to the Short Sharp Shocks! series.

[Demi-Louise Blackburn]

Busby does unsettling brilliantly, I will say that, and this hits on a common fear I'm sure we've all had rotten dreams about more than a few times. Some of the descriptions made me shiver, and the tone of the piece I was quite fond of, in that there's a really distinct personality within the narration. Despite the length, I got a lot of information about Nadie and her current circumstances without an overbearing backlog of info, and watching Nadie try and keep a grasp on her life kept me invested.

But I will say that I had a lot of questions, though, and I'm not quite sure I could say this fared as well as it could have in the space given. Whilst the plot itself is simple enough, by the end I was hoping for a bit more clarity on why these things were happening, and what actually unraveled in the conclusion. Whilst other readers may be happy enough to guess and assume, I think I was just itching for it to all come together a bit more.

Overall, though, a curious tale with some brilliant, unnerving scenes that play on common fears. Great little piece.

[George Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman falls apart (very literally) after becoming involved in a car accident. Brutal.

[Marissa Jardim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story, but a bit too short! I feel like it could have been about 75-100 pages longer and been even better.

[Angela Maher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully weird short story.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good grief. Deliciously disturbing, disgusting, and poignant. Busby sticks the landing, too - this is a fantastic quick read!

[V.M. Sawh · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the brilliance that was Corporate Bodies, I was eager to read more of Busby's work. This time of a teacher who's falling apart certainly had its moments but I was left to infer alot more than expected, which left me more ambiguous.