No. 6: Help You, Help Me
I live in Israel, Kate in New York. Since our parents died, my trips there have become less and less frequent. I hadn’t seen my sister in eight years. Suddenly she decided to attend my daughter’s wedding.
It hurts him so to see his love in pain that, to keep him from seeing her, he dream builds a very tall ice palace to keep her wandering spirit away from seeing him, from seeing that there is more to him than he lets his words convey.
Surely I knew, right? That I should be grateful. That I had something — someone — special sitting next to me? Didn’t I? Surely I appreciated the friend who put her life on hold for me.
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Popcorn is a bimonthly zine. We accept any and all submissions from current and former Sense Writing students. Story length should be 1000 words or less, and inspired through the Sense Writing practice. While every submission will not necessarily be featured in the upcoming edition, we are committed to featuring everyone's work eventually.
Edited by Hannah Sparks
“I get by with a little help from my friends,” sang The Beatles.
And I haven't heard an untrue feeling out of them yet. But just as much as you need friends willing to help you through a jam, you too must be willing to be helped.
Our narrator in “Date Night,” by Megan Heise, is questioning whether she’s shown ample gratitude towards her friend Jude. But a basic requirement of friendship is to allow each other to be a little self-absorbed sometimes.
Somewhere along the way in Lisa Aigen’s “Umbria,” two sisters who have not been present in each other’s lives seem to realize they might learn to rely on each other somehow.
Katie Finlay-Meredith’s “Poem for Dad” begs a heartbreaking question. Should she sterilize herself from memories because they remind her he’s gone? Or will she come to understand that those same memories will bring solace if she lets them?
An irascible king in L. E. Meyers’s tale “Thunderjelly” is threatened by his suddenly saucy Queen, so he rejects her. But it won’t be long before he understands just how much he needs her despite a woman’s prerogative.
Most often there is no clean solution or resolution to struggles in life. The lesson learned isn’t how to deal with the unfortunate, but how to allow yourself to see the good around it.