Shame is a fire, burning my core.
Category: fiction
Theodosia, Indignant to the Bone
Theodosia has been indignant all her life, mostly because she’s named Theodosia. “Why couldn’t I have been named Cynthia Jane?” she asks me. “That was Grandma’s name… Read more “Theodosia, Indignant to the Bone”
Lizzie Speaks, excerpt from Silver Bottle
Lizzie doesn’t have much, but she does have a high school education. After graduation, she walks home alone to find her step-father “moonshine blind,” half dressed and… Read more “Lizzie Speaks, excerpt from Silver Bottle”
Big Pete, 1889-1929
“His death broke the cold snap.”
Frank Wallace, AKA “Stubby”
He was lucky the doctors had been able to save his arm. He was lucky to be alive.
Excerpt from Silver Bottle, a memory from Lorraine.
Lorraine’s childhood is marred by the alcoholism of her mother. However, she does have a few happy memories, and the sound of popping soap bubbles is one… Read more “Excerpt from Silver Bottle, a memory from Lorraine.”
Carmen Amber’s Turn
A slyly sensual sound at a time when sex wasn’t talked about, except by married women on front porches in the summer twilight, or wildly exaggerated by teenage girls, also in whispers but with a throatiness, a raw edge which might cause the speaker to break off, red-faced, while the rest of us looked at our feet.
Lizzie Speaks, excerpt Silver Bottle
I felt something inside me I’d never felt before, and I let out a scream that climbed Devil’s Backbone, then dropped to the hollers where it stilled the deer. It felt like someone had taken out my heart, torn it in half, and put it back in.
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The woman in my mind just now? That was my mother. Resurrection driven, gliding in and out as easily as a paschal moon, hungry for a feast.
Rising, a short story by Joan Spilman
Grandma looks bewildered, like a child who’s been tricked. I’ve seen this look on her face before. In the hospital, mostly in the evening. The physical therapist told me not to worry. “It happens with stroke patients. We call it sundowning. They get confused. Expect her to have good days and bad. Expect her to cry and be moody. Don’t be alarmed at outbursts, accusations.” I’ve never feared for anything until now.
