‘A Wet Day’ by Mary Lavin

A Wet Day by Mary Lavin, 1944

The magic trick:

Welcoming the reader into the story by presenting the parish priest as a quirky, comical old man before turning the character portrait darker

Mary Lavin reckons with the Irish Catholic Church in today’s SSMT feature. As the story begins, the parish priest is visiting our young-adult protagonist and her aunt. He’s inspecting their garden and whining about the weather. Our narrator makes it clear that she does not hold the church in as high regard as her aunt does. But for the most part, the priest’s character quirks are presented to us with gentle humor.

As the story goes on and he keeps talking, that presentation starts to change. The quirks harden into character traits, and we see how those traits have caused real pain to people.

And that’s quite a trick on Lavin’s part.

The selection:

“You ought to clip back those bushes, Ma’am,” said the parish priest. “Nothing would give you a cold quicker than wet feet.”

“I know that, Father,” said my aunt, deferentially, “but they look very pretty on a sunny day; so shaggy and unpretentious.”

“On a sunny day!” said the old man. “And when do we get a sunny day in this country I’d like to know? As far as I can see it’s rain, rain, rain.”

As always, join the conversation in the comments section below, on SSMT Facebook or on Twitter @ShortStoryMT.

Subscribe to the Short Story Magic Tricks Monthly Newsletter to get the latest short story news, contests and fun.