A Quest To Deliver Mom’s Gift

I go back to this piece once in a while for a reminder of the power of brevity. I remember watching Steve work on this story. He listened again and again to a tape of Charlie speaking and tried to write with Charlie’s voice.

Here it is: Charlie’s walking through the graveyard in his new sneakers. Gray New Balance with red and black laces. First ones he ever bought. He’s wearing his new watch. Silver and gold. From Wal-Mart. He wants to learn to tell time. He’s working now, packing nail polish, first job. Charlie keeps walking past the headstones. He must find his mother. Emily Nessi. He has something to give her.