"Sure Footing," by Margaret Malone, comes from her collection People Like You (Atelier 26 Books, 2015). The collection itself is excellent from the half of it that I've had the pleasure of reading so far. Malone has a nice way of writing stories that may not have that big twist or wallop at the end that has a reader slapping their head and saying Oh! out loud. Instead they tend to bring about memories. They have situations that maybe most of her readers will have found themselves in at one time or another and not always the type of situations they'll fondly remember.
"Sure Footing" has a great opening sentence/paragraph:
Love lasts until the man you love leaves because he wants to drive a truck up and down I-5, hauling for a Central Valley feed company in the blazing hot sun and endless brown miles.
So at this point you're thinking break-up story. But it's not really. It's more of a wrong relationship story as the narrator begins to wonder, and really pretty quickly, whether or not she really was in love. The coffee she makes sort of hammers it home as she loves that first sip, yet when he made it the coffee was watery and nowhere near the same. Sunrise lighting is noticed and windows cracked even though it's cold out.
The story however also delves into the ideas of loneliness and the familiar. A couple of seasons into the future, her hair longer, new life patterns developed and he calls, a very short warning as he's at the local gas station. He shows up and:
He's gained weight. His tee-shirt is tight across his middle and his blue jeans are soiled, stains and creases cover his lap. He's starting to grow a beard or hasn't shaved. You can't tell which.
Malone's writing is like this throughout--pretty spare and quick to her points. A couple of bits that I loved:
"His hands fumble at his sides, then he pushes them into his front pockets, then moves them to the back, like the awkward appendages are brand new."
and after realizing that he had washed his hands and nails at the gas station before coming over:
"That single kindness is a crowbar swing at the clamped shut heart you've come to love keeping to yourself."
I don't think I've seen a reference to the clumsiness of what to do with one's hands put so well before.
As noted, the story's ending doesn't punch you in the gut, it doesn't stun you into a big yelp out loud. Instead, like many of Malone's efforts, it will probably make you think of something from your own past, or maybe that of one of your friends or family. And even if it's not a fond memory, the way she got you to think about it was definitely enjoyable. Look for this collection!
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