THE POINT WHERE THEY MEET and OTHER STORIES a Thesis
THE POINT WHERE THEY MEET AND OTHER STORIES A thesis submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts by Brittany Stone May 2011 Thesis written by Brittany Stone M.F.A., Kent State University, 2011 B.A., Hiram College, 2008 Approved by _____________Robert Pope______________, Advisor, MA Thesis Defense Committee ___________Varley O’Connor____________, Members, MA Thesis Defense Committee _____________Robert Miltner____________, Members, MA Thesis Defense Committee Approved by ____________Ron Corthell_______________, Chair, Department of English ___________John R.D. Stalvey____________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………....vi A REAL HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION…………………………………………….1 THE SPIDER………………………………………………………………………….23 THE POINT WHERE THEY MEET…………………………………………………46 BOBCAT……………………………………………………………………………...65 OF DESPERATION AND CARS…………………………………………………….75 THE HEN……………………………………………………………………………...92 AS GOOD AS MOTHER…………………………………………………………….111 THE HOUR BEFORE DEATH………………………………………………………128 SAILING MAN……………………………………………………………………….144 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is dedicated to my grandparents, Gene and Garcia Burchett of Duck, West Virginia. They’ve shown me that beauty, love, and joy can thrive in adversity. Little bits of their spirits are in each of these stories. Brittany Stone 3/15/11, Kent, OH iv A REAL HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION The man came on a Saturday morning and knocked on Bud’s door. The man didn’t know Bud and Bud didn’t know him. Bud had been sitting in the kitchen in his big old house, writing a check for the gas. For as long as he’d had been paying his own way—too many years, as far as he was concerned—bills came first on Saturday mornings. He tucked the pen behind his ear and answered the door.
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