I enjoyed this story, even though it was nothing of what I expected in the nature issue of Granta. I guess it kind of fits the theme, as Fiadh wants to ski alone in the Pyrenees Mountains, but not entirely. It'd be almost impossible to find fiction pieces to fit perfectly though, and I enjoyed reading this one.

Hughes's depection of Garrett is a good one:

Garrett smells faintly of bath curtain in his rental gear.

In the beginning, I didn't really think of him as a "creep" or make any connection with the title of the story. I just kind of thought he was a weird, dorky, academic guy from the conference. We all know people like this who are just a little too insistent or don't get the correct social queues.

But as they are going down the mountain and he begins to make excuses for everything and won't let Fiadh be alone, I was just like my goodness what an annoying person. And Fiadh, as a woman at the academic conference, was certainly obliged to be much more friendly than she would in the normal world. It's part of professionalism, especially for females, to out up with this nonesense.

The story won't knock your socks off, but I did think it was a good one, and just made me contemplate various interactions I've had in the past. Was I that guy who wouldn't leave somebody alone? Do my froemds feel this way with coworkers or acquaintances?