Bloodshot

In his short collection, Bloodshot, John Saxton offers the reader four quick glimpses into that which lies beneath the surface, and he examines those things we keep hidden and the various forms—fear, guilt, desire—in which these secrets take shape.

“The Shape at the Window” tells the story of Oliver, a man who finds himself caring for his wife, Sophie, after she suffers both a miscarriage and a disfiguring accident. Oliver has an over-active imagination which is fueled by his own guilt and the great secret he keeps and together this becomes a dangerous combination.

In “Amelia’s Labyrinth,” George is a young boy who is sent to the Mansion School, a boarding school from which a student mysteriously disappeared. George is nervous and homesick, even before he enters the school, and he is thankful to meet another student, Joseph Longmire, who befriends him immediately upon his arrival. But there is something strange about George’s new friend and George is filled with both fear and excitement as Joseph shares the secrets of the school with his new friend, including the special place on the school grounds which contain a cluster of trees known as Amelia’s Labyrinth. It is in this special place where George and Joseph share their confidences and it is here that George discovers an even darker secret which awaits him in the center of the labyrinth.

Trevor Devenish, the teacher in “The Achilles Impulse,” laments that he is taken too seriously by others and that his greatest wish is to be more fun. This poor teacher’s wish is overheard by one of his students, Christina Lampard, who turns out to be a very special little girl. Christina has the ability to distinguish someone’s true weakness and she is able to fulfill their secret desires. She turns her talents on Mr. Devenish; but unfortunately for Trevor, wishes don’t always come true in the way that one hopes.

The collection ends with the story of “Troilus, Timon and Tiberius,” three tadpole friends who spend their days playing and watching the children in the classroom outside their tank. Their carefree life is disrupted on the morning Tiberius discovers some mysterious bumps on his body and, frightened by the changes taken place in him, he hides in an attempt to keep his transformation a secret from his friends. Troilus and Timon work hard to coax their friend out of hiding only to find that perhaps Tiberius’ fears were well-founded after all.

Saxton’s writing moves between the fantastical and the horrific, dropping bits of dark humor here and there throughout some of the stories while working to build a subtle atmosphere in others and each story ends with a little twist, sometimes humorous as in “The Achilles Impulse” and “Triolus, Timon and Tiberius,” and at other times serving to create a careful ambiguity as in “The Shape at the Window” and “Amelia’s Labyrinth.” Saxton uses language to deftly explore a range of human emotions and, like the secrets hidden in each of his characters, he shows the reader again and again that there is more to each story than meets the eye.