 | A WRITER'S WIT |
Foiled for Life
Cornett / Mousecake March 16, 2015, Sarah Braunstein, “All You Have to Do”: Sid Baumwell, sixteen in 1972, enters a raffle at a small town grocery store, to win a lifetime supply of aluminum foil. ¶ The slick, handsome man handling the raffle, Bill Baxter, offers Sid a ride home and he accepts. You sort of expect something creepy to happen because in our culture we’re taught not to accept such favors—but nothing creepy happens. Well, Sid does win a lifetime supply of foil—imagine, his ticket out of an entire fishbowl! The prize amounts to eight rolls, which might last a lifetime in my house, but Sid is disappointed and intuits that Bill has selected his ticket on purpose. Again, the creepy feeling. Then Bill’s car reappears and Sid gets in. They talk. Sid senses that Bill is going to kiss him. The reader has no idea if Sid wishes for this to happen, just as Sid is unsure of what he wants his future to be. The final paragraph is stunning, completely neutralizes any creepy feelings the reader might have:
“Sid looked down and saw that his hand was being touched by Bill’s hand. Bill’s long, cool fingers rested lightly on his own. He was filled with calm, alert curiosity. His impulse was to stay perfectly still, to freeze, like when a ladybug lands on your hand. Or not a ladybug—something weirder. A glowy beetle, an insect you’d never for a second believe lived in your ho-hum corner of the universe. But it does. It is showing you. Stay still. Do not move a muscle. That thing could have landed anywhere, on anything. The word for this is luck" (68).
See! Not creepy at all. Braunstein is the author of the novel, The Sweet Relief of Missing Children.
Grant Cornett, Photograph
Hand Lettering, Mousecake
NEXT TIME: MLPR Podcast 2 "The Best Mud"
Grant Cornett, Photograph
Hand Lettering, Mousecake
NEXT TIME: MLPR Podcast 2 "The Best Mud"
BEHIND THE BOOK: My Long-Playing Records & Other Stories. In these posts I speak of the creative process I use to write each story. Buy a copy at Amazon.com!
Date of Original Post:
11/13/14 — Introduction to My Long-Playing Records
11/20/14 — "My Long-Playing Records" — The Story
11/27/14 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
12/04/14 — "Ghost Riders"
12/11/14 — "The Best Mud"
12/18/14 — "Handy to Some"
12/25/14 — "Blight"
01/01/15 — "A Gambler's Debt"
01/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
01/15/15 — "Men at Sea"
01/22/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
01/29/15 — "Engineer"
02/05/15 — "Snarked"
02/12/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
02/19/15 — "The Age I Am Now"
02/26/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Date of Original Post:
11/13/14 — Introduction to My Long-Playing Records
11/20/14 — "My Long-Playing Records" — The Story
11/27/14 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
12/04/14 — "Ghost Riders"
12/11/14 — "The Best Mud"
12/18/14 — "Handy to Some"
12/25/14 — "Blight"
01/01/15 — "A Gambler's Debt"
01/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
01/15/15 — "Men at Sea"
01/22/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
01/29/15 — "Engineer"
02/05/15 — "Snarked"
02/12/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
02/19/15 — "The Age I Am Now"
02/26/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
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