Electric Car, El Paso by Lucia Berlin, 1984
The magic trick:
Juxtaposing futuristic with the old-fashioned
We begin 2026 with this odd slice of Lucia Berlin.
It’s a very short story, and it’s very funny.
I love the way its strange juxtaposition of new (our child narrator is checking out a new electric car with her grandmother) and the traditional (the driver and the grandmother play a guessing game together with Bible verses). It’s perfect.
And that’s quite a trick on Berlin’s part.
The selection:
… I wanted to suck on an orange. I’m hungry, I whined.
Mrs. Snowden had foreseen that. Her gloved hand passed me fig newtons wrapped in talcumy Kleenex. The cookie expanded in my mouth like Japanese flowers, like a burst pillow. I gagged and wept. Mamie smiled and passed me a sachet-dusted handkerchief, whispered to Mrs. Snowden, who was shaking her head.
“Don’t pay her no mind … just showing off.”
“For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.”
“John?”
“Hebrews, Eleven.”
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.
Short Story Magic Tricks 