A Human Response

I was taught Aesthetics by Professor Frank Sibley and Yossi, my granddaughter, came across his ideas when studying Art. Sibley remarked in a seminar that, in fantasy fiction, human characters experience fantastic events but must display normal human reactions to them. (I was also taught by Professor John Benson and have just spotted that he is named as an Editor of Sibley's collection.)

In Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos, XXIII, Steve and Virginia's three-year old daughter, Valeria, has been kidnapped:

"'You really ought to eat,' I said for the ?-th time. 'Keep your strength.'
"'Same to you,' she answered, not looking at me or at anything I could tell.
"'I'm not hungry.'
"'Nor I.'
"We returned to the horror." (p. 159)

This dialogue would fit in fiction of any genre.

Stress is one great way to lose weight. A couple of times, I have been under such pressure at work that I did not eat for days. There were no bad physical effects and one hell of a lot of weight came off.