“Perchance to Glean” is the eleventh story in Gleanings. It was written by Neal Shusterman and co-authored with Michelle Knowlden.
Plot[]
In the RossShelf region, Danye and Alex are friends in communal dreams, and this time Dayne feels uneasy as a scythe is near. Dayne discovers Scythe Borgia, who first appears as a paisley panther, and tries to run from the Scythe with Alex. After many nights of this, Dayne makes a deal with Scythe Borgia saying Dayne will willingly be pursued by the Scythe, but Alex must be spared.
Characters[]
Appeared[]
- Dayne
- Alex
- Dayne’s mother
- Dayne’s father
- Ophelia
- Gertie
- Lonnie
- Mr. Ramos
- Scythe Borgia
Mentioned[]
- Thunderhead
- Scythe Gallico
- Scythe Crawford
Inspiration behind the story[]
"Neal and I whittled down a dozen ideas for the anthology, eventually focusing on Antarctic dreamers that Neal mentions (I believe) in The Toll. We were about fifty pages in when Neal decided that story needed another platform, so we brainstormed a more narrow slice of the Antarctic dreamers world. It was a fast and furious rollercoaster ride as we threw in ideas each more bizarre than the next. The story shares our love of space technology and Shakespeare and spins interesting ideas of the subconscious and Quantum mechanics. In the end, the story had to be shortened again. I still miss the ghost, the hot air balloons, and funnel cakes but Perchance to Dream is one of my favorites of our collaborations that span over twenty years" — Michelle Knowlden co-author of “Perchance to Glean”[1]
Trivia[]
- In the short story "Perchance to Glean", Dayne and Alex's genders/pronouns aren’t revealed because they are not allowed to know each other's personal details, and dreams are based on what is known, making the reader feel more immersed in the story.