“Islander” by Geoff Kronik (fiction, ’12)

A story by Geoff Kronik (fiction, ’12) appears in Blood Orange Review:

Islander

I know the two girls are lying, so I invite them in. They’re leggy and slender with sharp little noses, teacup breasts, straight hair and pearlescent skin. If they had been a touch more professional, paid some attention to detail, I might have believed them and said sorry, I can’t help you. But now I’m curious.

“What did you say your name was?” I direct my question to the blonde, who so far has done the talking. Behind them a cardinal whistles in the big autumnal maple in my yard, red against gold against a clean blue wash of sky, a beautiful sight that even so does nothing for me.

“I told you already, it’s Vanessa.” She tilts her chin up at the ‘V’ and hisses the double-‘S’ through bared teeth. If she eased off the attitude, lost the squint that looks like holding in tears, I might buy the toughness she’s trying to sell. I suppose in time she’ll either outgrow the act or perfect it, according to how life unfolds or unravels. It’s the sort of choice we all have to make, or if we’re lucky it gets made for us—we may dislike the outcome, but at least it’s unambiguous. I don’t really know what to want for these girls, other than as painless an enlightenment as possible.  [. . . continue reading here.]