Dog Days of Sumer (short story)
Dog Days of Sumer was a short Jenny Everywhere short story written by Scott Sanford, starring Jenny Cornelius. Though primarily riffing on Good Omens and certain elements of the Lovecraftian mythos, with a twist appearance by a reference to Star Wars mythology, the story happened to be released on May 25th, a significant day within the Discworld series; in acknowledgement of this, the story was prefaced with the two first lines of the song All The Little Angels, originating in the same Discworld novel as the May 25th holiday itself.
The story was illustrated with a real-world photograph of unclear provenance, captioned as simply “a secluded mews somewhere in central London” and serving to depict the story's setting.
Contents
Plot
On an ordinary day in London, Jenny Cornelius, on her way back from shopping at the closest Marks & Spencer to her home, happens upon Mr Fell. Surprised to see him outside his bookshop, she soon learns that he is being menaced by an “unwelcome visitor” who's been prowling around his doorstep, which he describes as “a loose end from a while back” which has been let loose by a careless British Museum curator who handled some ancient artefact irresponsibly. Although they try to put themselves in the clear by ducking into the mews which house Jenny's own home, the threat soon reveals itself: a creature of shadow which materialises out of the nearest right-angled corner. Jenny recognises it at once, but has no particular knowledge of how to fight such creatures, with Fell volunteering that “last time”, he handled its ilk using “fire, and lots of it”. With Fell explaining, a touch too testily, that he doesn't own a flaming sword anymore, Jenny lends him “her own”, a much more technological sort of fiery blade which she claims to have “picked up” in “a place far, far away from here”. After quickly dispatching the best, Fell remarks that it felt oddly exhilarating to smite again after all those years, but wisely gives Jenny back the weapon.
Worldbuilding
Jenny Everywhere
- This story features Jenny Cornelius.
Universes
- The story takes place in Jenny Cornelius's home universe.
Other
- Jenny reflects that she “isn't even on the road to Damascus” when she has her encounter with a divine being.
- Jenny initially asks Mr Fell if her unwelcome welcome visitor is “one of the opposition” relative to his own “people”. Fell tells her that it is “more of an independent contractor in the same line of work”.
Continuity
- Jenny Cornelius's acquaintanceship with “Mr Fell” was previously mentioned in PROSE: The Folly of Men and PROSE: Birds and Snakes.
Behind the scenes
Background
When posting the story, Scott Sanford appended a foreword:
| Here’s another Cornelius story earlier than expected. I was going to post the second part of the nonfiction page this week – but then I noticed it was the 25th of May, a day for truth, justice, freedom, reasonably priced love, and maybe a hard-boiled egg. GNU Pterry. |
| —Scott Sanford |
And an afterword:
| The song quoted at the beginning is from a Terry Pratchett book and may be heard here or here. No, I don’t actually know if the M&S on Oxford Street was there in Jenny Cornelius’s era. ……(August 2023) However, the M&S Marble Arch branch definitely was in business at the time, but a kilometer west of the store I had in mind. See here for a picture of the groceries. Why does Jenny Cornelius have that sword, anyway? P.S.: Author flattery was achieved on Discord with the comment, "T'was a fun read! I heard the lightsaber sound effects in my head." *grin* |
| —Scott Sanford |
Read online
The story is available on the author's Dreamwidth website.
