Popular Mechanics, a very short story by Raymond Carver. It was included in Carver's 1981 collection called "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" and later appeared under the title "Little Things" in his 1988 collection, "Where I'm Calling From.”
The story describes an argument between a man and a woman that rapidly escalates into a physical struggle over their baby. The man, woman, and baby don't even have names, which emphasizes their role as universal archetypes (prototypes). They could be anyone; they are everyone.
The word "mechanics" shows that this is a story about the process of disagreeing more than it is about the outcome of those disagreements. Nowhere is this more evident than in the final line of the story: "In this manner, the issue was decided.”
Summary:
It’s slushy outside and getting dark. Inside, a man is in the bedroom, hurriedly packing his suitcase. A woman says she's glad he's leaving. She starts crying. She takes a picture of the baby from the bed and leaves the room. He wants the picture back. He finishes packing, puts on his coat, and turns out the light. He goes to the living room. The woman stands in the doorway of the kitchen, holding the baby.
He wants to take the baby. She refuses. The baby starts crying. He moves toward her. She retreats into the kitchen, standing in a corner by the stove. He grabs hold of the baby. They argue over him. The baby is screaming. They knock down a flowerpot. He crowds her, trying to break her grip on the baby. He grips the baby under an arm and tries to pull the woman's fingers apart. She feels her grip loosening. As the baby slips away, she screams and grabs for the baby's other arm. She has one wrist and leans back. The man pulls very hard.
The issue gets decided.
What happens to the baby? This is the main point of speculation in the story. It is not certain what happens to the baby. The two likely possibilities are:
- The baby gets injured or is killed either from a fall or the pulling.
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