
Miss Barbara Noble has spent a lifetime convincing herself that the only way to stay young is to keep everything—and everyone—at arm’s length. When a weary young salesman arrives on her doorstep with a battered suitcase and a bottle of “Diamond Dew” lotion, she watches him through a curtain, ready to turn him away. Yet curiosity and a stubborn sense of dignity push her to open the door, setting the stage for a battle of wits between a seasoned cynic and an eager peddler.
As the salesman unfurls an array of miracle cosmetics, Barbara’s sharp tongue and practical mind clash with his relentless charm. Their encounter becomes a strange dance, each probing the other's motives while the quiet suburban street watches unnoticed. Listeners will find humor, tension, and a glimpse of how a single afternoon can force an old woman to confront the very idea of change.
Language
en
Duration
~27 minutes (26K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2010-06-06
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1917–2002
A witty, imaginative voice in mid-century science fiction and fantasy, she published memorable short stories in magazines like The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, and Galaxy. Her fiction often mixed big speculative ideas with humor, and "The Steiger Effect" earned a Hugo Award nomination.
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