Once in a Blue Moon (2003) is the second collection of short stories by Magnus Mills. As in his novels, each is told by an unnamed narrator :
- "Once in a Blue Moon" in which the narrator acts as negotiator in an armed siege between the police and his mother.
- "The Good Cop" in which he is interrogated by one or possibly two identical policemen.
- "They Drive by Night" in which he is picked up as a hitch-hiker by a large lorry in which he sits in the noisy cab between the driver and his mate and attempts to make sense of the conversation.
- "Screwtop Thompson" in which he is a child and receives as a present "Screwtop Thompson" a toy whose head unscrews and which came in several guises. The narrator chose a policeman but received a schoolmaster....without a head.
Famous quotes containing the words blue and/or moon:
“Buz, quoth the blue fly,
Hum, quoth the bee,
Buz and hum they cry,
And so do we:
In his ear, in his nose, thus, do you see?
He ate the dormouse, else it was he.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
“She is not terrified of
begonias or telegrams but
surely this nightgown girl,
this awesome flyer, has not seen
how the moon floats through her
and in between.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)