FIVE TERRIBLY SHORT STORIES

by Joseph Young

MY MOTHER PLAYED HARP FOR THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

In her bed, oxygen tube and morphine, my mother told my father the two things she would miss: a horn rising from the polyrhythm of Cuban Son, and church bells. My father’s eyes, shamed as always, pleaded. Our children, they said. They’ve come a long way. My mother thought for a moment. Okay then. The whistle of water running as you shave.

EARLY MATINEE

You were about to leave me for good when the street came alive with bottles bursting. Hispanic kids suddenly swarmed as the merchants slammed shut their silver gates. “Gunshots?” I screamed. We ran until we found an open fruit stand. You crowded toward me, your breath in your teeth, as the celery and lemons applauded and laughed.

NEWS FROM HOME

Though it was only early autumn and the Bavarian sky was filled with sun, we were wrapped against the cold. From the top of Alte Peter, we could see the square below, the thousand burning votives, the American flags, the buildings draped in black. You preferred to keep your eye on the clean blue line of the distant Alps. You preferred to keep your cold, trembling hand folded into mine.

DEEP SUNLIGHT

The girl shed her shirt, punctured the river’s bluebottle skin, and swam to the far side. Todd, William, and I sat on the rippled sandbar and followed the white kick of her feet. She pulled herself onto a rock and stood looking into the sun, fresh water pooling about the pink grip of her toes. The whole lot of us, from one hundred feet away, felt all the beauty and misery of our lives.

A DELICATE LINE

When the sky went red with evening, my sister had to talk. Al Qaeda was out to get her, she’d say. They’d tapped the phone, her air was blue with anthrax, her dentist’s name was Atta. I’d frown at her and scoff, argue the truth until my anger was huge. There’s no one here! I shouted. No one at all. She looked at me and shook her head, sour-faced and pitying. But then she pointed over my shoulder, eyebrows up in mock fear, and laughed.