The Only Thing I Have by Rhonda Waterfall

Author:Rhonda Waterfall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Short Stories
ISBN: 9781551523590
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Published: 2012-03-07T00:00:00+00:00

Found

A fierce wind whipped through the city streets and lifted Myrna’s skirt. Construction men sitting on a cement retaining wall pointed and laughed at her. She pushed down the billowing pleats and cinched them tight around her knees. The lesson book in the crook of her arm hit the sidewalk and unleashed a flurry of sheet music. She rushed to gather up the papers, but the wind snatched them away. Fiddlesticks, she said, and sat down in a doorway. Plastic bags and other flotsam swirled in the gutters, hanging signs snapped back and forth against their hinges. I never wanted to play piano anyway, she said. Wind buffeted the street lamp in front of her. Metal rivets creaked and moaned. Myrna got up and put her ear to the post. Yes, did you say something? she asked. The post was silent. The street lamps flickered and then snapped on. She wrapped her arms around the post and hugged it tight. The metal was cold on her cheek. The construction men threw their half-eaten sandwiches at her and called her crazy. She ran all the way home.

Her mother sat at the kitchen table with a Newport alight between her bony fingers, a mint julep and a Chatelaine magazine before her on the table. Her glassy eyes swivelled up to greet Myrna. How was piano, dear? I didn’t go, Myrna said. That’s nice, dear, her mother said. She flipped a page of her magazine and took a drag of her cigarette. Your father is out fixing the car. Myrna went to the window. A Lincoln Town Car sat in the driveway with four flat tires; weeds had grown up through the engine block. Myrna poured herself a glass of water and went upstairs to her bedroom. She opened the window and got into bed. The curtains ballooned out and swished around the sides of the window.

In the night Myrna sat up in bed unsure of what had caused her to awaken. She cupped her hand at her ear and heard someone say her name. She got out of bed and went to the window. The wind had uprooted trees; they lay on their sides with their dirty roots pulled from the earth. Shingles broke away from the roof and clacked down on the street below. She heard her name again. She went down to the street and followed the sound of her name back to the street lamp. The street lamp shook and rattled. Myrna placed her ear to the metal post and was again sure she heard her name. Her hair whipped against her face and stung her eyes. She parted her lips to say Dad, but the wind filled her mouth and stole the word away. She slid down to her knees and eventually fell asleep.

Just before the sun was up a man in a flannel checked shirt bent down and touched Myrna’s cheek. Rise and shine, little bird, he said. Myrna opened her eyes and thought at first that her father was kneeling at her side but then realized he was a complete stranger.

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