Ruthy And Edie by Grace Paley, 1985
The magic trick:
A time break to show the characters at different points in their lives
“Ruthy And Edie” jumps in time after showing us the girls as children. The next section shows us how they are as adults, how they have changed, and how their relationship has changed. I mean, that’s really the trick here. I know that sounds pretty simple, if not downright stupid. But that’s a choice the writer made. Two sections – showing very different points in the characters’ lives.
And that’s quite a trick on Paley’s part.
The selection:
I have to go home now, she said. My cousin Alfred’s coming. She looked to see if Ruthy was still mad. Suddenly she saw a dog. Ruthy, she said, getting to her feet. There’s a dog coming. Ruthy turned. There was a dog about three-quarters of the way down the block between the candy store and the grocer’s. It was an ordinary middle-sized dog. But it was coming. It didn’t stop to sniff at curbs or pee on the house fronts. It just trotted steadily along the middle of the sidewalk.
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