It worked, yet felt like it could keep going.
Days later, while chucking away at my own writing, I thought of that crippled man on a porch, in a Hawaiian shirt, watching the women, while talking to his sister.
It didn’t stop there. The further I dug into Stefanie Freele’s collection Surrounded by Water.
In another short short, “Feisty Rojo,” environmentalists wage war on a casino. Again, it could be bigger, but in no way do I feel board by its brevity.
You see, I have a bias against flash fiction: or fiction typically under 1000 words. To me, many paint a scene and leave it there, still wet, without the “Ta-da!”
And that’s why I’m sharing Stefanie Freele with you.
It’s rare to have a flash fiction or any short short story linger with you. Take for example Hemingway’s famous, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
It works. It may linger, but it will always have that taste of a barroom bet: a gimmick. But when I walk around in my daily life Stefanie Freele’s stories follow me around like demanding puppies.
The brain damaged seagulls of “Us Hungarians” and the young man that believes he brings the weather in “Surrounded by Water,” her longer stories, demonstrate a wit and command of story that makes me envious.
So make sure you check her out today. Then, when you’re done, leave me a message below or fire me an email about some writer you are digging now.
Later,
Joe
PS