Edna In Rain by Marie-Helene Bertino, 2015
The magic trick:
Using a funny, surprising premise to hint at deeper emotional territory
A weekend double for you in the rain.
This story uses a funny, surprising premise to take on what can be a serious subject: the way past relationships can tamper with the present.
Edna is walking down the street, and it’s raining exes. They keep dropping from the sky and chatting with her.
Excellent stuff. It gives the author room to be funny, flippant, while also hinting at some deeper emotion.
And that’s quite a trick on Bertino’s part.
The selection:
My town’s chief bragging point is: a short drive to everything! but me, I like to walk. Arms akimbo. Toes out. Let the whole world come as far as I’m concerned. I continued my walk to town, akimbo. No sooner had I turned onto Orange Street than BLAM. Marisa O’Donnell landed in a bush!
She and her husband live in Pittsburgh. No kids but not from lack of trying. You know how things can be.
I really do, I said.
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