Showing the Story Without Telling It

Before I get to my post today I would like to share a story with you. Don't worry, it's not long but it does play a part in today's post.

There once was a charming couple who rented a rather nice home just outside of a small town. One day, while talking to the landowner, the man of the house asked if he could have permission to chop down twelve large trees in the front yard. The landowner agreed and so the man began chopping down the trees.

A few weeks past by and the townsfolk noticed that the man's wife was nowhere to be seen. They asked the man where she was and he replied "she is visiting her parents." A few more weeks pasted and they asked again in which he gave another reason why the woman wasn't there. Well, the townspeople began to wonder and become concerned so they called the police. The police came out, investigated the house and asked the man questions before leaving. The investigator stopped at the nearby diner for lunch and shared that he found nothing amiss in the house and doesn't have a clue as to the whereabouts of the women.

While the investigator talked a traveling salesman stepped into the diner and listened patiently. He came by when he could because they always purchased his steak sauce. When the investigator stopped talking the salesman spoke up and said "are you talking about the missing woman from the house up the road?" Of course everyone said yes.
"That is a strange man. He bought two large bottles of my sauce and heck one bottle would last him more than a month."
The investigator dropped his fork and looked at the man.
"That's the ending of this story," he said.
The waitress looked between them.
"But why did he chop down all those trees?" She asked.
The salesman fell onto the bar stool.
"To build up an appetite."

This is a very short story and I may have messed it up but it still displays many aspects of writing. Take for instance the ending, you have to think about it because the story teller does not come right out and tell you what happened to the woman. We don't even see what happened to the woman. We are given enough information to draw the conclusion the storyteller wanted us to come to. I also like that little actions and items combine together to provide what the reader needs to know. For example, the steak sauce was the key to the whole thing connecting together. I mean, chopping down a tree is meaningless until you combine it with a missing person and steak sauce. Granted, we don't know the why in this story but do we need to? If the purpose of the story is to deliver chills then the why will only get in the way of that. Actually, not knowing why but knowing that he did makes it even more disturbing.

I've been listening to a number of Alfred Hitchcock interviews and learned a great deal from them. One of which is his use of everyday actions and situations to deliver a desired emotion and thought. For example, you're reading a book and in that book a man is walking down a set of stairs but all you see is his hand gliding down the stair rail. If we stop right there then this is a mundane, boring, everyday activity. But what if we, as the reader, had a few clues to make us think this person is, in fact, the villain. It is not shown or stated that this person is about to do something bad but we know that something will.

I'm not sure though. It might just be that, in this day and age, readers want to see everything. They want to see if the villain escaped or died or if the woman had the baby with her one true love. I think that is why so many were upset with the ending of the Sopranos. We never saw Tony get shot but we were given plenty of information that suggests he was. I know that is a television show and not a book but it was the best example that came to mind.