Stephanie Johnson, whose collection One of These Things is Not Like the Others will be coming out from Keyhole Press soon, is rapidly becoming one of those writers that will stop me from scanning through a journal's Table of Contents and force me to whatever page it says her writing is on.
"Discontent" can be found in the current online Hobart. It's a flash fiction and is pretty devastating as the title may suggest. It begins:
When the weatherman warns the roads will become impassable, your mother sends your father out for supplies. Your mother tucks the money in your mitten. She sends you along to keep him honest.
While I don't think there's anything specific to the story to suggest it, I assume the "you" is a little girl. Maybe it's the reference to "honey-honey" at one point. The usual grocery story father/young child revelry ensues - cart spinning, food being tossed into the cart, racing through the parking lot (okay these were usual in my growing up, if it was ONLY dad and kids and has been the same for my kids as well), but as the story winds down and they head back home:
Once you're on the back roads, he'll let you sit on his lap and pretend to steer. He'll tell you you're the best thing that ever happened in his sorry life, and he'll make you promise never to leave.
The discontent of the title rears its ugly head and it's a gut shot to the reader. Johnson does this time and time again in her collection, surprising the reader with a hit of emotion they're typically not ready for in such short stories, with so little writing remaining in what has been a funny or entertaining piece. Look for the book from Keyhole, it's well worth your time.
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