I remember almost everything about this story but the title and author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
On 6/6/26 2:08 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's
room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing
the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she
will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
That sounds like Damon Knight's short story "Not with a Bang".
- Tony
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title andI remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable. His
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's
room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing
the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she
will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
plan was to have a daughter with the woman and it is implied (I think implied, it has been decades since I read it) use the daughter for sex.
Now I have to see if I have a "Best of Damon Knight" somewhere and
reread it. Or maybe it was a Hugo winner. Or something.
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