"Middle Woman" is a short story by American writer

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...

, originally published in the '' Dragons of Darkness'', edited by Card himself, under the name Byron Walley. It also appears in his short story collections ''

Cardography ''Cardography'' (1987) is a short story collection by American writer Orson Scott Card. It contains five stories and an introduction by David G. Hartwell. All five of these stories were later published in ''Maps in a Mirror''. Story list The ...

'' and ''

Maps in a Mirror ''Maps in a Mirror'' (1990) is a collection of short stories by American writer Orson Scott Card. Like Card's novels, most of the stories have a science fiction or fantasy theme. Some of the stories, such as "Ender's Game", " Lost Boys", and ...

''.

Plot summary

"Middle Woman" is the story of woman who at first seems very average. She is neither rich nor poor but somewhere in the middle. She is the middle child in her family and lives between her two sisters who live thirty leagues to the north and to south of her. One day while traveling to see one of her sisters she meets a

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

on the road. He tells her that he will either eat her or grant her three wishes. She decides to take the three wishes and then wishes that her husband's farm will produce enough food to support her family forever. The dragon flies to her house and eats her family so that no matter how much food the farm produces it will always be enough. Realizing that the dragon only wants to trick her, the woman wishes that everything in the world would go back to the way it was before she left her house that morning. Instantly she is back in her home and decides not to go see her sister so that she will not meet the dragon again. Although she is now safe, it occurs to the woman that she still has one wish. However, she wisely decides not to use it. Instead she saves it for a day when she needs it. When she is old and about to die the dragon comes to her and tells her that if she doesn't use the wish before she dies that he will die as well. The woman wishes that the dragon and everyone he meets will be happy and dies.

Byron Walley

Byron Walley is one of Orson Scott Card's

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s. Card chose to publish "Middle Woman" under the name Byron Walley because his short story " A Plague of Butterflies" was also appearing in the book '' Dragons of Darkness'' under his real name.

Audio

In addition to the text versions of the story, "Middle Woman" is also available as an audio download in the March 2006 issue of Orson Scott Card's ''

InterGalactic Medicine Show ''InterGalactic Medicine Show'' (sometimes shortened to ''IGMS'') was an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It was founded in 2005 by multiple award-winning author Orson Scott Card and was edited by Edmund R. Schubert from 20 ...

''. The story was read by Mary Robinette Kowal and recorded at Willamette Radio Workshop.

References

External links

Official Orson Scott Card website

"Middle Woman" audio download

Short stories by Orson Scott Card 1981 short stories {{1980s-story-stub

Plot summary

Byron Walley

Audio

See also

References

External links