John of The Book Mine Set reviewed this story earlier this month and made me curious.  Harper Perennial is hosting a a weekly online short story giveaway called, Fifty-Two Stories with Cal Morgan.  This is one of the stories.

The un-named narrator of the story worked in a chemical plant for six years after high school.  He said, “I’m not extraordinarily gifted in any particular way.”   He then met a girl in a bar.  They started out having a casual relationship but then something changed.  She started saying controlling things things to him like, ” A man shouldn’t sleep all day if he’s going to amount to anything,” and “I’ve seen you guzzle down the beer. Anyway, you don’t know what it’s like for me. If you knew you’d stop just ’cause of that. You’d stop because I’m a blackout drunk.”  
Then she wants to move, she says, “If you truly love me we’ll move to a real city and not stay in this shithole. Look, don’t I give you everything? Don’t I give you my entire soul?”  They move to Portland, Oregon but she is never satisfied.  She complains and crys and turns psychotic.

This is a very strange story but I liked it.  I agree with John, that the theme of this story is ambition.  If your looking for a different kind of story about relationships, you may enjoy this one.  I would be very interested in your thoughts if you do read it.  You can read it here.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.