Described as “prose snapshots,” each of the stories in this evocative, wide-ranging collection captures significant or telling moments, encounters, or observations in 50 words or fewer. Together, they add up to something far greater than the sum of their parts, creating a rich, layered portrait of the human experience.
In some stories, the narrator observes–and wonders about–others from a distance, echoing an experience that many of us have had. In “Cafe off the Interstate,” the narrator reflects on a server who has “poured coffee for the millionth customer she called ‘Hun,’” doing her job with “speed and life.”
In just 48 words, this story conveys how one kind, competent individual can have a positive impact on countless lives: no small thing in this often-unkind world.
Other stories are more personal, immersing us in intimate situations or moments. In “Relive,” a couple (former high school or college sweethearts?) drive together and talk about the past: “Good stories only, lived again in their retelling.” While making love, they “clawed, groped, remembering one story with all their heart. Back then, it had no other stories to frame it, not like now.” What was that one story? The memory of falling in love, perhaps? or of their first sexual encounter? Whatever the answer, the story suggests the complications that have been layered onto the characters’ lives since then. And with five poignant sentences, it conveys the impossibility of returning to the past, however one might want to.
Several stories examine the inspirations, struggles, and setbacks of artists, who at times consider where they are in their creative lives. In the story “Inventory,” one artist makes this observation about his work:
Sometimes, a coffee shop hung them. Mostly, he stored them in crates in his closet.
Well, lately they were spilling into his bedroom.
I found myself wondering whether the artist would simply move on from this reflection and keep painting, or whether he’d reached a turning point and might rethink the direction of his life. This was just one of several stories that prompted me to ask, What now? What next? Pravica has a gift not only for drawing us into characters’ interior lives and struggles, but also for capturing what feel like life-at-a-crossroads moments.
Some stories capture moments that are significant for reasons that will be mysterious to readers if not the characters involved. As a consequence, our imaginations are invited to run wild. In “Clean Laundry,” for instance, a woman is folding and putting away laundry until “[a] stray tee stopped her. She held it in both hands.” Did a tee from her partner’s lover, or from a beloved person now absent from her life, somehow make it into the wash? We can’t be sure, and we are left to contemplate what might have led to this moment and what might follow it.
The titles of the stories merit special mention. Sometimes, they offer clues about the moments or situations being explored; other times, they add a note of playfulness. In “Innocence Lost,” for example, a child chooses a piece of red candy “because red always tasted best.” When the candy heats up in her mouth, she’s not pleased. After asking her mother for an explanation, she learns that she’s selected hot cinnamon candy. No lover of cinnamon, she thinks, “Red candy was never the same.”
In one especially moving story, “Let Go,” the title is both literal and metaphysical. At the start of the story, a girl has just let go of a balloon, leaving in her tears. In response, an adult (her father?) tries to comfort her:
With this reflection on coming to terms with the unexpected and unwelcome, and perhaps even finding some good in it, the story seems relevant to adults and children alike. And like the other stories in this collection, it highlights the significance of what might be an ephemeral moment or observation, perhaps easily lost to time. In large part, such things are the stuff that lives are made of.
Would My Pick be Your Pick?
If you're interested in ________, the answer may be "Yes":￭ Flash fiction
￭ Insights into the human condition and experience
