Little Bird by Claudia Ulloa Donoso

Author:Claudia Ulloa Donoso [Donoso, Claudia Ulloa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deep Vellum Publishing

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The Woman, completely drunk, collapses on the sofa. The room’s thin walls shake. A thread of saliva extends from her lips to the floor. She breathes hard.

The Boy, recently bathed, hair still wet, sits at the table with a blue notebook and a freshly sharpened pencil. He sneezes.

The Man carefully combs the Boy’s hair and sprays him with cologne. The air changes for a moment, from sour liquor to lavender. The Man sighs.

“Dad, what does ego mean?”

The Mother mumbles something. She’s trying to get comfortable on the sofa but moving gives her the hiccups. The Man puts a bucket of water near the sofa where she’s about to pass out. Then he returns to the Boy.

“Ego. Ego is an Armani aftershave. I have a bottle in the bathroom. When I use it before I go out, I can tell people like how it smells. Everyone looks at me, especially women, smiling and breathing in the good-smelling air around me. Ego smells very good.”

The Boy takes the pencil and writes in his blue notebook, Sentence 1. My dad smells like Ego. Women like how he smells.

The Woman hiccups again. The Man pushes the bucket closer to her mouth and wipes the sweat from her forehead. It’s almost a caress.

“Asshole,” she says. “Son of a bitch.” Then she pukes.

The sleeve of the Man’s shirt is covered in vomit. The Boy writes in his notebook, Sentence 2. He puts the pencil down and turns to his father. His eyes are full of tears.

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