Short Story Question

April 6, 2009 8:16 PM

What is this short story about a diver falling from the sky?

The (scuba?) diver falls through a hole from the sky and there are normal people walking around below. Ends with a line about fish gasping and convulsing on the street. Probably not more than 400 words long.

posted by nvly to grab bag (5 comments total)

Not sure about a short story, but in case it's helpful, I remember that basic idea as the plot of a brainteaser where everyone asked yes/no questions until they figured out the story- the guy was a scubadiver accidentally scooped up by a firefighting aircraft and dumped on a burning forest. Then, not 10 minutes ago on TV I saw an action movie trailer with the same trope- a dude dumped from the air onto a city street- and a quick google suggests the film being advertised was Crank.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:26 PM on April 6

The "scooped diver thing" was also used by PT Anderson in "Magnolia" and is not, strictly speaking, possible in real life.
posted by drjimmy11 at 8:27 PM on April 6

Urban legend.
posted by iknowizbirfmark at 8:39 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]

Nope, it was a surreal short story probably featured in the likes of mcsweeneys.
posted by nvly at 8:46 PM on April 6

This has shown up all over the place. It was even featured in an episode of CSI.
posted by mmascolino at 6:50 AM on April 7