Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Jeffty Is Five [Short Story Review]

"Jeffty Is Five" is a short story written by Harlan Ellison. It was published in 1977. This is one of his most compelling fantasy stories. It very much feels like a Twilight Zone episode.

It is about a five-year-old boy named Jeffty who never actually ages up. For something like 20 years, he remains five while his best friend, a man named Donny, keeps aging. Now, that alone makes for a great story, but it gets more complicated.

Jeffty isn't just five. He feels like he is five as well. All that childhood innocence is present. He only seems a little aware of the modern world around him, but he himself acts and even seems to perfectly portray a kid that is five-years-old from a bygone age.

The supernatural aspect of this story is also fascinating. Not only is Jeffty still five almost twenty years later, he also has the ability to listen to the old forgotten radio shows of the past. But he isn't listening to reruns. He is hearing new episodes of the shows as if they never got canceled. This was probably the most shocking thing for me. It was like Jeffty was locked in a version of the past that never actually went away.

Remember a show you loved when you were a child. Imagine if it was still running to this very day with the exact same cast. Imagine if the original Star Trek show was still going, and William Shatner had not aged a day, but they were still making new episodes... and you'd only be able to see it if you were with this one kid that was the same age as he was when the show was young. That's what it was like to be around Jeffty.

Now, I don't want to spoil the ending of this story, but it hits extremely hard. It packs more of a punch than I was ready for, but I really did love this story regardless. I absolutely recommend it and rather wish it had been made into a movie. It's that good.

This blog was written on July 8, 2024.

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4 comments:

  1. VERY interesting. I shall read this story. I wrote a novel with a similar premise about timeless children. The adults haunt the world as living but invisible spooks who are otherwise normal. Everyone else is 9-years-old. Even siblings of different ages are the same age in a weird way, and such is normal. Jeffty seems like someone from this otherworld. The big reveal could prove inspiring.

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    1. I actually would like to get this story for you, but it's only available in collections. You might try finding a reading of it on YouTube.

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  2. I have known individuals who got older but did not grow up. With all the enjoyment of childhood, there is a lot that it missing. It is better to retain that sense of wonder while accepting responsibility for oneself.

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    1. I mean, yeah, but this was clearly a supernatural.... you know what, I get what you're saying.

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