The Trash Collector: A Short Story by Monica Shaughnessy
Publisher: Jumping Jackalope Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by LavenderWhen objects begin to disappear from porches, Lydia Strichter suspects the neighborhood hoarder, Dale Kreplick. He’s a strange man with an even stranger habit of digging through people’s trash. But when she sets out to prove the “Trash Collector” is behind these thefts, she discovers more than the culprit. She discovers some things can’t easily be discarded. A heart-warming story of tolerance, grief, and the persistence of memory.
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Dale is not like others around town and so makes an easy scapegoat. Could he really be the one taking things from his neighbors, or is there something more to all this? Lydia holds a meeting, determined to catch Dale in the act.
The writer has composed characters that are easy to either dislike or sympathize with. Dialogue fills out this characterization as do just enough physical details to allow readers to see the scene.
When the neighbors “catch” Dale with some missing things, there is a surprising twist to the story. Themes of tolerance versus intolerance, dealing with loss, and remembering important times underlie the story. Lessons are to be learned, mainly, not to be too quick to judge those who are different from ourselves.
