A Story a Day #55: H. G. Wells

April 14th, 2020

"The Man Who Could Work Miracles"

H. G. Wells

A normal man who works at a grocery pops into the bar across the street. On a whim, he says he can make the lamp burn upside down and he does. Everyone blows it off as a simple trick but he soon discovers he has the powers to will things to happen. He summons things and even accidentally sends a man to San Francisco. He soon performs some things for his friend and attempts to fly, but upon doing so, everything vanishes but him and his friend. He panics and wills his powers to be off and soon he is back at the bar as though nothing has happened.

When I first encoutered this story I had some expectations because of it being H. G. Wells. I suppose these were met as I expected it to be mildly science fiction that comments somehow on society or morality. That being said, I haven't really read a whole lot of H. G. Wells, but this story seems to fall in line with those expectations. Maybe this style just isn't my thing, but this story didn't excite me like some others have. I suppose this is a good lesson about not abusing your powers, but for me it didn't go far beyond that.