This is the second installment of a story I wrote for my senior thesis at the University of San Francisco.  Set in the strange world of a women’s clothing store, the story follows Carin on a trying shift.  Part Two picks up just after an awkward interaction with a difficult customer.  Carin has tried and failed to graciously explain why the Sale signs say “Up to 70% off” and why the items may in fact be only 30% off.  Carin has finally told the customer that it’s just the evils of capitalism, and escaped by taking the woman’s clothes to the fitting room.

You can catch up with Part One here, and continue the story below.

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Back in the fitting room area, Joanne looked up from folding clothes when I came in.  She was stationed back here this shift and I envied her.  I usually enjoyed the fitting room more than other positions.  I liked it when it was busy.  Not insanely busy, but right on the edge.  I liked having six things to do and to bounce and whirl and twirl between all of them, not overwhelmed but dancing right on the edge of it.  I’d gone off the edge sometimes and that was no good, but I loved it when I could skirt the cliff, moving fast and getting everything done.  Those were the best days.  They went by much faster too.  I’ve had eight-hour shifts in the fitting room that were shorter than five-hour shifts spent sizing clothes. 

Continue reading “From Each According to Ability (Part Two)” →

This is a little more reflection than narrative…and I suppose the “I” in this case really is me (which it usually isn’t, in my writing).  But this has more of a story quality than an essay quality, so I’m going to put it in for Fiction Friday anyway.

On some level, this may be one of the most valuable things I’ve written.  I submitted it as my writing sample when I applied for an internship at UniversalGiving, where I’m now working…and while I couldn’t say how big a factor it played, one never knows…

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I swear Stonehenge was laughing at us.

            Not literally, of course, I don’t mean it like that.  But in a metaphorical, immense, stony kind of way, Stonehenge was definitely laughing.

            I think Stonehenge is maybe about an hour or two bus ride outside of London.  I say “bus ride” because I think tour buses are all that go there; tour buses and druids, maybe.  I was on a tour bus when I went there.  Tour buses usually make me sleepy, which is why I’m not so sure about the time length to get there.  I woke up quick when we got there though.  Stonehenge is not something to be slept through.

Continue reading “Meditations on Stones” →