Diana—one of the literary 99%.
"Chella Courington's prose is stunning and difficult to turn away from. From the very first to the last, this work is breathtaking and surprising. I cherish moments where I think, "How did the writer do that?" and we are lucky if it happens occasionally--but with this writer's command and vision, I was taken aback by the "minor revelations" in nearly every piece. This book is full of beautiful gifts, wise and accurate. I have not read many (if any) books like this---the fascinating blending of social media and its effects, the academic realities, aspirations and despair, the speculation and desire throughout the collection. This is an important voice in American short prose, contemporary and confident, beautiful and brilliant."
---Lee Herrick, author of This Many Miles from Desire
Diana loved sweets
Fig Newtons, Hershey Kisses, Lemon Tarts, Twists, Jelly Bellies. Anything that tasted of being a girl again, running out the backdoor with Nancy and rolls of Angel Soft to paper the Walker’s pecan trees. Tissue like tinsel, thrown in streams over nude limbs, changed into moonlight dancers. In the shadows, Diana and Nancy. One day they would know life was a dream, but then bodies were perennial pinks blooming every spring. No matter what they did—Marlboro reds, nose candy, black beauties—nothing marked their leaves. Years later Nancy left a message on Diana’s cell phone. “I still hate math. Math still hates me.” Diana cracked a beer, remembering when Nancy passed her a note in tenth-grade geometry. “Math gives me leukemia.” It was March, and she never returned to class. Mr. Singleton fell for the stricken student and sent Nancy’s homework to her house always with a gift. Her dresser was stacked—Whitman’s sampler, Catcher in the Rye, a poster of Boy George. In June she went into remission and never mentioned geometry again. Holding the cell phone, Diana fell asleep. Her beer cans arranged like two isosceles triangles. Side by side.
- Word Count: 5,000
- Author: Chella Courington
- ISBN: 978-1-61937-042-5
- Cover Artist: Kelly Shorten
- Editor: Coreen Montagna
