Four Small Stories
<
One>
A small boy witnesses the death of his father.
A week later he goes into the father's closet and
picks out one of his ties. He struggles with
the ends, unable to fasten the knot.
[The boy is the brother in
story #4.]
<
Two>
A mother searches her son's desk drawer.
There is a small glassine bag of heroin in the
drawer but she doesn't see it. It's underneath a
diary that she is afraid to open.
[The mother is the woman in
story #3.]
<
Three>
A woman stands on a street corner waiting.
She's going to ask her husband for a divorce.
Just as he arrives she goes to check her face
in a store window but is unable to see herself.
[The husband is the father in
story #1.]
<
Four>
A man seeks forgiveness from his brother.
It is an old wound. They sit down
across from each other in a diner booth.
They talk until they have nothing more to say.
[The man is the son in
story #2.]
from
American Software