A Summer Memory
It is 3:15 am in a midtown office building. PG is spending his dinner break in an unused cubicle, almost out of speaker range for the break room tv. A flourescent light fixture is hard at work, playing an essential role in the drama to follow.
Thirty seven years ago, Truman Capote spoke in Athens GA. Before taking questions, he read “A Christmas Memory.” There was a line, with the words oh, and carnage, that got a big laugh.
Wednesday afternoon had been the first time to turn on the window AC unit. Outside, it was over ninety, with the Georgia humidity doubling the effect. The next two months will be miserable.
During this early morning dinner, after the first day of summer megaheat, PG is reading “A Christmas Memory”. An old lady, and the seven year old cousin she calls Buddy, are going to make fruitcakes. They need to buy supplies.
The previous summer, someone gave Buddy a penny for every 25 flies he killed. “Oh, the carnage of August: the flies that flew to heaven”. It is now 3:28. In two minutes, it will be time to go back to work. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The fruitcake lady was the aunt of Truman Capote.
Chamblee54 
Nice story – I was leading a writing workshop at Troy U last fall, and this student complained she had nothing in her life to draw from. I said, Well, where are you from? She replied, Monroeville – it’s so boring there. heh.
I always enjoy reading and seeing what you have come up with for your Trifecta submissions! Always intriguing and certainly always artistic. :)))
You know what? I kind of love this. So stream-of-consciousness but still thoughtful and connected. Great job with the prompt, Chamblee. Thanks for linking up. Don’t forget to come back and vote.
I like the line about the light. Very cool.
Thank you. I reworked that several times, and then put it up, and there was a word by itself on the last line. I added a few words to keep it company. The light part doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the story, but was included for this prompt.
The largely autobiographical story, which takes place in the 1930s, describes a period in the lives of the seven-year-old narrator and an elderly woman who is his distant cousin and best friend. The evocative narrative focuses on country life, friendship, and the joy of giving during the Christmas season, and it also gently yet poignantly touches on loneliness and loss.
I had forgotten about the fruitcake lady. Good laughs. Any relation?
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[…] then shift gears and read a bit of The Dharma Bums. At some point in the procedure, there was a collection of output from Truman Capote. Hank Chinaski might not like PG. There is the rhyming poetry. There […]
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[…] Lee was a close friend, as was Sook. This is Truman’s cousin, the fruitcake chef herone of “A Christmas Memory.” After a while, Lillie Mae married Joe Capote, who adopted the boy. They moved to New York, where […]
[…] Lee was a close friend, as was Sook. This is Truman’s cousin, the fruitcake chef herone of “A Christmas Memory.” After a while, Lillie Mae married Joe Capote, who adopted the boy. They moved to New York, where […]
[…] then shift gears and read a bit of The Dharma Bums. At some point in the procedure, there was a collection of output from Truman Capote. Hank Chinaski might not like PG. There is the rhyming poetry. There […]
[…] Lee was a close friend, as was Sook. This is Truman’s cousin, the fruitcake chef herone of “A Christmas Memory.” After a while, Lillie Mae married Joe Capote, who adopted the boy. They moved to New York, where […]
[…] then shift gears and read a bit of The Dharma Bums. At some point in the procedure, there was a collection of output from Truman Capote. Hank Chinaski might not like PG. There is the rhyming poetry. There […]