‘Weekend’ by Amy Hempel

Weekend by Amy Hempel, 1997

The magic trick:

Pushing a story along with no readily apparent conflict

Where’s the drama here? Where’s the conflict? Everything seems so nice.

Then we get the last sentence. The only conflict is that the weekend has to end. Interesting way to generate emotion. And that’s quite a trick on Hempel’s part.

The selection:

“It’s not who wins – ” their coach began, and was shouted down by one of the boys, “There’s first and there’s forget it.”

Then Hunter retrieved a foul ball and carried it off in the direction of the river.

The other dogs followed – barking, mutinous.

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