"In the Rundown"

The "Rundown" is the baseball scenario when a runner is trapped between bases, both ways ending in being tagged out. Wyatt experiences this situation as a little leaguer and again in the climax when he must find help for Baxter who has been stabbed. I wasn't sure how I felt about this metaphor. In the baseball rundown, both ways end in defeat. In the rundown he faces presently, on the one end you have the dying boy, but the threat had been removed as the mother flees the area. On the other end you have safety once he flags down the police car. Although we aren't told if Baxter survives or not, it can be assumed that he received help. The metaphor is really only useful to me in that one end of both rundowns is to Treat Rendell, at second base and then as a state trooper.

This story I found to be a little different from the others in terms of the protagonist. Many of Hill's protagonists are younger boys growing up or men reflecting back on their childhood. This protagonist does flashback to his childhood, but this story is not nearly as focused on his development like several other of his stories are. He is the same age throughout the story, and he is an older guy than many of the others. Also, this story takes place in one afternoon, while several others span weeks or months and even a lifetime in "20th Century Ghost"'s case.

Another thing I would like to point out is Hill's use of distinctly American images that recur through his stories. The obvious one in this story being baseball. It is also mentioned in at least two other stories. Also, the image of a hardware store is pretty American and is seen in this story and a couple others.

This story was definitely one of the scarier ones, but overall relatively enjoyable. Not my favorite though.