My best friend and next-door neighbor
—thirteen, happy, taller, stronger—
challenged me for the right to carry
my knapsack
on a summer hike across the Delaware and back.
So why, two lifetimes later,
do I still feel guilt and anger?
How was I to know
I was the better swimmer?
Erik Cederblom, a San Francisco Bay Area Writer, prefers the short form: 6-word wonders, dribbles, drabbles, flash, and short stories. (Who coins these terms?) His stories have been shared in The Iowa Review, The Military Experience and the Arts, inScribe, Typishly, and others.
Well done. How can that sort of loss ever fade entirely?
Hi Deborah,
When the memory of an event doesn’t fade, perhaps the best we can do is honor what we cannot change by writing about it.
I’m glad you liked the story.
Erik
Really powerful story, Erik. Excellent.
Thank you, Shoshauna,
It was a hard story to write. It’s nice to know it has found a home.
Erik
The last line!! This is so good Erik. Keep on writing!
your bio is funny
Thanks, Chelsea.
Writing the very short stories—whatever we call them—is a fun break from the longer stories. But certainly no less challenging.
I’m happy you enjoyed the read.
Erik