Snapshots
by Jack Swenson
i
One day she gets so mad at him she rakes her fingernails down his face. Jake has to hold her down on the bed. That night they go to their friends' house for dinner. "What happened to you?" Carlos asks. Jake says he cut himself shaving.
ii
Carlos's wife is a spinner, a little blonde. A midget. Jake and the blonde get together on the q.t. Some time later the woman, whose name is Amy, runs off with a high school teacher. Jake is sad. So is Carlos. Carlos, who is enterprising, calls the teacher's wife and asks her to dinner. She accepts.
iii
Years later Amy tells Jake that she faked her orgasms when they were making love. "Ha ha," he says. He makes her take off her clothes, and he takes nude photographs of her. From time to time he takes out the pictures and looks at them. She isn't pretty, he decides. He wonders why he was so crazy about her.
iv
Jake remembers that Amy told him once that she thought that somehow he would always be a part of her life. That was before she went to Spain and married an American bull fighter. He thinks: I haven't seen her in years.
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Author's Note
Published some time ago in Ghoti. Thank you, C.L. Bledsoe
Priceless, Jack. Hemingway grins here through the words and laughs like Brautigan never could.
I fave this one with absolute glee.
So terrific and so very "Jack". "An American Bull fighter"?*
A joy to read, Jack. Well crafted. *
Jack, do you think you could write something, for me, just once, that I don't like? thank you in advance. . . fave
maybe Jake deserved her fingernails raking down his face. Anyway, he lost the other one to a bull fighter.
What goes around, comes around?
no?
Just fantastic.
So much 'relationship' packed into such small space. Love the matter-of-fact tone, the American bullfighter, the sad lives. Peace *
Isn't love grand?
Good form, well crafted, compelling narrative voice.
You make it look so easy. One of my fave faves.
Yes, this is how life and love are. *
one of those that - for me - became a different story every time i read it. the brief nudity mid-piece and the bullfighter and the face art especially made me gasp for air jealously.
"Carlos, who is enterprising..." :) Great piece.*
Strange and infinitely interesting. Esp like the part where he takes the photos after her years of "faking it." Very good for story reality that is always somewhat hyped beyond real life.
*
Wow...beautiful and sparse and dense. Not a single word wasted...loved this one!
Jack, what's really great about your writing is that you understand endings, not just of pieces but also of parts. You have a poet's rhythmic sense.
A lot of modern prose I find lifeless and dull. Not yours, amigo.
*
Great title for this: it was visual and random like snapshots.
I loved that he took photos of her and laughed when she told him she faked orgasms!!! Nice surprises in here, Jack!!!
****
This is way splendid. Memorable snapshots!
This is pretty cool, Jack. I love the way you define the characters in this set. There's a depth here that you've created. Love the last one--I'm intrigued by Amy going to Spain to marry an American bullfighter.