The Dandelion Girl
Encyclopedia
"The Dandelion Girl" is a science fiction
short story
written by American
science fiction author Robert F. Young. The story, roughly 5,600 words, first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post
on April 1, 1961. The story was later republished in a Robert F. Young short story collection in 1965 called The Worlds of Robert F Young: Sixteen Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy. The line "Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." from the story appears six times throughout the text and is the only full line that is repeated. The story involves a middle-aged man named Mark Randolph who meets a girl half his age who claims to be from 240 years into the future.
in his own, albeit small firm. Mark is married to his wife Anne who he first met as his new secretary twenty years before the story begins. Mark only manages to get away from work twice a year, and has just started his second vacation in September 1961. Anne, who does not work as his secretary anymore, could not come along due to having to appear at jury duty
, and since he could not reschedule the trip, had to go alone. Thus, Mark starts his vacation in a rural area not far from the city where he works, as the city can be viewed from atop a hill overlooking the area. Mark stays in a cabin on the edge of a lake in the middle of a wooded area.
One day early in this two-week vacation, Mark climbs the hill overlooking the surrounding area and finds a young twenty-one-year-old girl named Julie Danvers with blue eyes, dandelion-colored hair, and wearing a white dress. She tells him that she is from the year 2201 and that she is able to come back due to her father inventing a time machine
. Mark does not believe her, but goes along with her imaginative tale. After talking for a few hours, Julie leaves, telling him that she will be back the following day at the same time. Mark returns the next day to find her there, this time wearing a blue dress. They talk for several hours again and get to know more about each other. Julie tells more about her father, whom she thinks very high of, and the fact that he is an invalid
that she must take care of. Despite breaking laws set by the time police to come back in time, Julie still manages via her father's personal time machine. Mark and Julie part once more with plans to meet up again. Mark has quickly fallen in love with Julie, but hates himself due to his marital situation and the fact that he has never even so much has looked at another woman since he married Anne.
The next day, Mark climbs the hill and meets with Julie again, this time in a yellow dress. The two talk more atop the hill, and plan to meet again. However, when Mark returns the following day, Julie is nowhere to be seen. After waiting a while for her, Mark descends the hill disappointed and tries again the next day, only to not find her again. On the third day, she still does not appear, and while he has little hope on the fourth day, he does find her, though this time she is in a black dress and he can see tears in her eyes. It turns out Julie's father had died and she came back once more to tell him that her father's personal time machine is breaking down. Without her father around she cannot repair it, and thinks that she will only be able to travel back in time once more before the machine breaks down completely. She leaves that day after confessing her love to him, and while Mark returns to the hill every day until his vacation runs out, he does not meet her again.
Mark returns home from vacation, and while he tries to hide how Julie has affected him, Mark thinks that Anne knows he has changed. On Sunday afternoons, Mark drives into the country and visits the hilltop, but Julie never comes. On a rainy day in mid-November, Mark is home alone since Anne is out playing bingo. Bored, Mark goes into the attic to find some jigsaw puzzle
s, where he accidentally knocks his wife's old suitcase off a shelf, which opens the rusted lock. Inside, he finds the same white dress that Julie had worn, and suddenly realizes that his wife Anne is in fact Julie. She had traveled back to when Mark was in his twenties and applied as his secretary under the assumed name Anne. After realizing this, Mark puts on a raincoat and runs outside to meet Anne getting off the bus from her bingo night. After reaching out to touch her rain-wet cheek, Anne knows it is all right, and the fear she had carried in her eyes for the past twenty years disappears forever. Mark and Anne walk home hand in hand in the rain.
reported that the short story was voted number eight on a poll conducted by Hayakawa's SF Magazine for all-time greatest non-Japanese science fiction
stories.
in the production of the Japan
ese anime
series RahXephon
. The repeated line "Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." from the story was featured in the visual novel
Clannad and its anime series adaptation. The line was also referenced by the video game Portal 2
.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
written by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction author Robert F. Young. The story, roughly 5,600 words, first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
on April 1, 1961. The story was later republished in a Robert F. Young short story collection in 1965 called The Worlds of Robert F Young: Sixteen Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy. The line "Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." from the story appears six times throughout the text and is the only full line that is repeated. The story involves a middle-aged man named Mark Randolph who meets a girl half his age who claims to be from 240 years into the future.
Plot
"The Dandelion Girl" revolves around a forty-four-year-old man named Mark Randolph who works as a lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in his own, albeit small firm. Mark is married to his wife Anne who he first met as his new secretary twenty years before the story begins. Mark only manages to get away from work twice a year, and has just started his second vacation in September 1961. Anne, who does not work as his secretary anymore, could not come along due to having to appear at jury duty
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
, and since he could not reschedule the trip, had to go alone. Thus, Mark starts his vacation in a rural area not far from the city where he works, as the city can be viewed from atop a hill overlooking the area. Mark stays in a cabin on the edge of a lake in the middle of a wooded area.
One day early in this two-week vacation, Mark climbs the hill overlooking the surrounding area and finds a young twenty-one-year-old girl named Julie Danvers with blue eyes, dandelion-colored hair, and wearing a white dress. She tells him that she is from the year 2201 and that she is able to come back due to her father inventing a time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. Mark does not believe her, but goes along with her imaginative tale. After talking for a few hours, Julie leaves, telling him that she will be back the following day at the same time. Mark returns the next day to find her there, this time wearing a blue dress. They talk for several hours again and get to know more about each other. Julie tells more about her father, whom she thinks very high of, and the fact that he is an invalid
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
that she must take care of. Despite breaking laws set by the time police to come back in time, Julie still manages via her father's personal time machine. Mark and Julie part once more with plans to meet up again. Mark has quickly fallen in love with Julie, but hates himself due to his marital situation and the fact that he has never even so much has looked at another woman since he married Anne.
The next day, Mark climbs the hill and meets with Julie again, this time in a yellow dress. The two talk more atop the hill, and plan to meet again. However, when Mark returns the following day, Julie is nowhere to be seen. After waiting a while for her, Mark descends the hill disappointed and tries again the next day, only to not find her again. On the third day, she still does not appear, and while he has little hope on the fourth day, he does find her, though this time she is in a black dress and he can see tears in her eyes. It turns out Julie's father had died and she came back once more to tell him that her father's personal time machine is breaking down. Without her father around she cannot repair it, and thinks that she will only be able to travel back in time once more before the machine breaks down completely. She leaves that day after confessing her love to him, and while Mark returns to the hill every day until his vacation runs out, he does not meet her again.
Mark returns home from vacation, and while he tries to hide how Julie has affected him, Mark thinks that Anne knows he has changed. On Sunday afternoons, Mark drives into the country and visits the hilltop, but Julie never comes. On a rainy day in mid-November, Mark is home alone since Anne is out playing bingo. Bored, Mark goes into the attic to find some jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
s, where he accidentally knocks his wife's old suitcase off a shelf, which opens the rusted lock. Inside, he finds the same white dress that Julie had worn, and suddenly realizes that his wife Anne is in fact Julie. She had traveled back to when Mark was in his twenties and applied as his secretary under the assumed name Anne. After realizing this, Mark puts on a raincoat and runs outside to meet Anne getting off the bus from her bingo night. After reaching out to touch her rain-wet cheek, Anne knows it is all right, and the fear she had carried in her eyes for the past twenty years disappears forever. Mark and Anne walk home hand in hand in the rain.
Critical reception
Reviewers have said of it that "All I know is that, though I have read other touching love stories in our genre, this one made a personal impression, a unique connection for me—don't ask why." The science fiction news magazine LocusLocus (magazine)
Locus, subtitled "The Magazine Of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field", is published monthly in Oakland, California. It reports on the science fiction and fantasy publishing field, including comprehensive listings of all new books published in the genre. It is considered the news organ and trade...
reported that the short story was voted number eight on a poll conducted by Hayakawa's SF Magazine for all-time greatest non-Japanese science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
stories.
Influence
"The Dandelion Girl" influenced Yutaka IzubuchiYutaka Izubuchi
is a Japanese anime designer and director. Izubuchi is credited for designing costumes, characters and creatures, but most of his designs are mechanical...
in the production of the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series RahXephon
RahXephon
is a Japanese anime series about 17-year-old Ayato Kamina, his ability to control a godlike mecha known as the RahXephon, and his inner journey to find a place in the world...
. The repeated line "Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." from the story was featured in the visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
Clannad and its anime series adaptation. The line was also referenced by the video game Portal 2
Portal 2
Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game based on new patches to the original game...
.
External links
- "The Dandelion Girl" at Sci FictionSci FictionSci Fiction was an online magazine which ran from 2000 to 2005. At one time, it was the leading online science fiction magazine. Published by Syfy and edited by Ellen Datlow, the work won multiple awards before it was discontinued.- History :...