A Woman’s Best Friend by Robert Reed

“A Woman’s Best Friend” is a 2008 science fiction short story by Robert Reed. It is about an alternate reality George Bailey who shows up on a strange world after jumping into a river to save an angel.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

Did you ever see the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life?” Do you remember what happened to George after he jumped in the river to save Clarence the angel? Well, what if Clarence wasn’t really an angel, but rather a talented inhabitant of an alternate reality Earth? Be sure to check out this story to find out what happens to George when instead of going back in time he in transported to a world where Mary is a whole lot smarter and a little bit more risque!

“The date,” he insisted. “What’s the date?”

“December 24th-”

“It’s Christmas Eve,” he interrupted.

Mary sighed, and then she nodded. Pulling her empty hand out of the gun pocket, she smiled at the mysterious visitor, asking, “By any chance, George…is there an angel in this story of yours?”

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• I thought it was cool how “A Woman’s Best Friend” played on the plot of a famous Christmas story! I enjoyed reading about what could possibly have happened to George.
• Mary! Ha – she was much more fun in this story than in the original show!
• The idea of traveling between alternate reality Earths was pretty cool – especially how it was used in this story.

• The bad:

• There were a few spelling errors in “A Woman’s Best Friend” – nothing huge, but still kind of annoying.
• In case you are wondering, this story is a bit sexier than the original movie – probably not the best story for kids.

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 10
• Word Count: 3,854

Where you can find “A Woman’s Best Friend”:

• This short story first appeared in the December 2008 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine.
• You can read a very nice online version of “A Woman’s Best Friend” at the Clarkesworld Magazine web site.

Some Interesting Links:

• Did you know that Robert Reed has a degree in biology? Yep. You can learn more about this prolific science fiction author at Wikipedia.
• If you have never seen the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life” then you may want to learn a little something about it.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Eight Episodes, about a short lived web series that proves to be much deeper than anyone initially suspects, by Robert Reed.

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