"Sometimes I Think She's a Little Crazy"

"Compatible."

By Richard R(ein) Smith (1930-2013; ISFDb HERE and FictionMags HERE).

First appearance: Fantastic Universe, August 1958.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story.

Online at Project Gutenberg (HERE: 3 pages as a PDF) and The Luminist Archives (HERE: 3 pages; go to text page 126).

   "There are many ways—murder included—in which husbands can settle certain problems. This was even more drastic!"

On occasion the battle of the sexes takes a sinister turn . . .

Main characters:

~ Helen:

  ". . . smiled half-heartedly, her pale face quickly resuming its unhappy expression as if it tired her facial muscles when she smiled."

~ George:

  "It's hell, I tell you. A living hell."

~ Ed, the narrator:

  "She interrupted with details of the operation. The details and list of her other ailments lasted half an hour, during which George drank steadily and I waited for a lull so I could glance at my watch and say something about being late for an appointment."

Resource:

- The type of procedure described in our story "has been met with resistance and alarm from some quarters," being characterized as "doing something unnatural or as playing God."

(WARNING! SPOILERS! See Wikpedia HERE—but only after reading the story.)

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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