Science Fiction & Fantasy Asked by jkane on July 1, 2021
I am trying to remember the title and find a collection, by identifying short stories that were in it – this one was a short story involving a young lady, a nurse or aide in an old folks home. Her boyfriend’s name was Donald, and she was looking forward to seeing him after work.
She was working with an older, larger, disabled woman. She noticed how the woman held her pinky out for most things… The young woman was trying to get through the day, but her headache was overpowering. Ultimately, it turned out to be part of the old woman’s plan – she grabbed her arm hard, and after the bright light, etc – the young woman was looking out of the old woman’s eyes, in her body. The old woman in the young woman’s body leaned in to gloat about having her Donald and life. The young woman in the old woman’s body chokes her to death, all the while staring at the outstretched pinky…
Other short stories in the collection included the "Sound Machine" and I believe "Flowers for Algernon".
This is Finger! Finger! by Margaret Ronan. There is a summary of the story here and since it's quite short I'll copy and paste the whole thing.
Carola has been hired to work as a servant for Miss Amanda, a bed-bound heavy woman. She's quite nervous and the cook coaches her on how to care for Miss Amanda. When Carola first meets Miss Amanda, she's a bit shocked by her appearance. Miss Amanda greets her and begins to ask her about her love life which embarrasses Carola. Carola attempts to avoid her through the rest of the day but is requested to come just at the end of the day when her lover arrives to pick her up. Miss Amanda grabs hold of her and through some means of magic, switches bodies with her. In Miss Amanda's body, Carola looks out the window to see that Miss Amanda as Carola meeting her boyfriend. She calls out that "Carola" is a thief and so the cook grabs her and brings her to Miss Amanda's room. "Carola" brags about how she will get away but "Miss Amanda" strangles her just as the police arrive.
I wish I could claim this was down to my encyclopaedic knowledge of SF, but actually I just searched the story The Sound Machine on the ISFDB to see what anthologies it has been in, and finally found Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories for Late at Night, which also contains Finger! Finger.
Answered by John Rennie on July 1, 2021
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