Finished this issue; of the last five stories, three are first person pov, two are in third. The stories: A man in his early sixties plans to leave his wife who has advanced Alzheimers and take off with a younger woman, but at the last minute changes his mind (we don’t know why); a young man whose wife and young son died in a boating accident while he survived invites a fifteen year-old girl into his room (?); a med student can’t make up his mind if he wants to apply for a surgical residency and feels he needs a woman to help him make the decision; a man cycles his way through the streets of his village in China ferrying passengers; a woman’s father is aging and threatened with death and creates within her own story that of a woman she meets who is going home for the funeral of her own mother.
In three of the thirteen stories, sausage is used as a metaphor–for fingers or cushions–so sausage is a biggie (although I would think rather cliche’).
I don’t know what I’ve learned from reading this issue; certainly that nostalgia and feelings are what count in creating a story that these readers are interested in. Self-reflection seems to be a common theme. Lots and lots of detail akin to the idea of that lamp in your grandmother’s house that you’ll always remember. I think what I’ve learned is why I’ll probably never have a story included here.
Good writing voices, some very good narrative structure and imagery, but what I’ve had drummed into me for five years I can’t help but repeat: What is the story?
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology