Miracles by Lucy Corin, 2011
The magic trick:
Flipping the story with a final-sentence question
This magic trick veers close to gimmick territory. But when the story is as well done as this one is, who cares?
The trick is this: end the story with a question that sends the reader flipping back to the beginning to figure out what they missed. And that’s quite a trick on Corin’s part.
The selection:
He was always showing us stuff around the farm. He was growing a beard, always tired and patient. There was a barn with a horse in it we were taking care of. He said a lot about learning to take care of others as a part of growing up, and we watched him with eyes too big for our heads.
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