CHICAGO’SFREEWEEKLYSINCE | DECEMBER JANUARY JANUARY | DECEMBER CHICAGO’SFREEWEEKLYSINCE theater music & film Previews 28 Reviews 21 Flash fi ction By ABABJCG C SC-JAEK G J GJG H HJKA KMK BLML V LAM CM JNBPS SMS DS S NS E S FTRVMW JWR S Y4 THIS WEEK CHICAGOREADER | DECEMBER JANUARY | VOLUME NUMBER FEATURES FLASH FICTION A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Tell us a really, really short story MYFIRSTAPPEARANCE in the Reader—following all that work o to copy editing, illustration, and Chicago’s best extremely short fi ction of 2018 a few decades as a devoted reader—was in a fi ction layout. B V4 issue, and it always struck me as a fantastic way The fi nal days of sending a publication to press to round out a year of alternative newsweeklies. are traditionally a grind, and trying to get an issue Of course to do it right we would have had to have out before the winter holidays is spectacularly planned it several months in advance, but Karen stressful. The proofi ng process is not the funnest Hawkins—our digital managing editor—and I had part of print publishing: tiny text you’ve read far both just started by the time it became clear, in early too many times and can no longer see mistakes in, November, that no fi ction issue had been scheduled digital jags that throw o entire pages in the fi nal for 2018. (To be fair, there were some real questions hour. Suddenly words stop making sense, or you about the Reader’s future in general.) can’t remember why you thought a story was ever a What to do? We wanted to read fi ction, and we good idea in the fi rst place. know you people love to write it. Was there a way, in But proofreading this issue was a total joy. A ton far too short of a time span, to get in a whole mess of of great, very short fi ction, written by you, people good writing, read through it all, and select the best who live in or love this city from afar. Each story entries for publication before the end of the year? retains its own distinct style and voice—we allowed Within 24 hours a call for submissions to an ex- some formatting inconsistencies between stories to citing new endeavor—a fl ash fi ction issue!—went preserve this uniqueness. Most of us were caught out. Entries of 500 words or fewer. It was our only while proofi ng by how moving some of the stories rule! (Besides that submissions be original and pre- are, or how funny, after the strain of judging them viously unpublished, although that’s a little more had passed. Chicago itself becomes a frequent char- legal butt-covering than a “rule.”) Within about 25 acter, and the city’s impact on its writers is clear. hours, a steady stream of extremely short stories This city nourishes you. started rolling in. We accepted submissions for only We’re delighted to bring the work of these writ- a week—so we could select the best of them, copy ers to our pages in this double issue. (Remember! edit, and get them illustrated before the end of the No new Reader next Thursday!) Luckily you’ll have year—and received over 230 entries total (a full 10 all the concert, theater, and fi lm reviews you need to percent of them in the actual fi nal hour). get by during the week we take o . There was fun stuff in there. Our first read- Unfortunately, our last issue dropped a few lines through gave us a pool of nearly 90 pieces from from a theater review of Witch by Justin Hayford; it which we would select a fi nal batch for print publi- is available online in its entirety. An image in City cation. Flash fi ction is tricky: it’s such a short form, Life was also printed sideways, although that was a writers hold back when they shouldn’t, or focus test to see if you were paying attention. (You were!) exclusively on narrative. A good balance of story, And we neglected to mention one of the coproduc- descriptive detail, and thoughtful consideration of ers of HeLa, by Sideshow Theater Company and form is difficult in stories of any length. But jam- Greenhouse Productions. ming all that into 500 words or less takes real talent. With that, we’ll leave you to the fl ash fi ction issue, Finding that talent takes e ort. We had sta read and the 30 tiny worlds each story contains. You will each of those 90-ish pieces and vote, so that each recognize some of these worlds, fi nd others infuri- piece was read, and voted on, three times. We then ating, and learn to love more than one of them. Then selected a fi nal 30 stories based on those with the when you see us again, it will be a new year. And you most votes for print publication, and another fi ve won’t believe what we have in store for you for 2019. for digital publication, just to be extra. Then we sent —AE M 2 CHICAOREADER - DECEMBER ll THE THIS WEEK M E X I C A N 1 9 6 7 TR IN THIS ISSUE - ­ ­ @ celebrating P TB EC AEM MEPSK MEDKH KS 51 D E CLSK DP JR CEAL MEPM AEJL SWDI ARTS&CULTURE BJ M S YEARSYEARS 21 TheaterLaRutapresentscompelling SW snapshotsoflifeinCiudadJuárezFiddleron MD LG OPEN 7 SMEBW days a week theRoofsatisfi eseverybody’syeideldeidel MLC needsBurningBluebeardcommemoratesthe LC until X- mas IroquoisTheatrecatastropheandmore FLC P F 23 MoviesThegonzoantibiopicVice T AE please for capturesourattentionCam’srealhorroris CS ☎ whorephobiaandaTransformersprequelthat CD AE BDC Extended just steps from the LC I GA G Dempster “L” stop letsyoubaskinhowstupidthestoryis J H J H IH DJ holiday hours MK SK MM BMSM JRN M O LP J PBS KS 847-475-8665 DSKW AW ---------------------------------------------------------------- 801 Dempster Evanston DD JD DPE&P K K OM SNL ADVERTISING MUSIC&NIGHTLIFE -- - @ C @ 28 ShowsofnoteRileyWalkerDKVTrio VicSpencerNonameandtheScreaming SMPF Femalespromisetosendoff withabang SAR AM andstartright AR LM-H NS CLASSIFIEDS CR M T P 36 Jobs 36 Apartments&Spaces NA 36 Marketplace VM G--- JL SB 37 SavageLoveEventhekinkyneedsome ---------------------------------------------------------------- goodoldfashionedrelationshipadvice 38 ErykahBaduEmpressOf DC EarlyWarnings [email protected] andVanMorrisonannouncenewshowsBilly -- BragCannibalCorpseMariahCareyNeko STMREADERLLC CaseWandaJacksonandtheCoathangers BPDRL areallupcoming TER S J S 38 GossipWolfIsaiahSharkeytakesabreak A-S V fromhisinprogressalbumtoplayChopShop HumboldtParkOrchestracelebrateswomen CCEB insalsaatAlhambraPalaceandabenefi tfor ---------------------------------------------------------------- sexualviolencepreventiongroupResilience R ­ISSN - comestoBurlington STMR LLC SM SC IL -- C ©C R P C IL OI L F FF’ A C R R RR T ® ll DECEMBER - CHICAOREADER3 Flash fi ction Extremely short stories of 500 words or less 4 CHICAOREADER - DECEMBER ll come back by soon and I’m sure they could her. Meanwhile, Felicia sat across from the work that out for you. It might change the ab- two, relieved the little one didn’t miss a beat sorption rate, but you might fi nd it easier. The and trip. She sat feet crossed, wishing not needles are much smaller.” another soul would sit by her. She placed her Outside it was spitting rain and the wind tote bag to her right. Five PM rush was hell had picked up, swirling orange-gold leaves enough without someone elbowing her side to through the cool gray mist, which fluttered numbness. and fell to the ground, clumping in soggy Nonetheless, people were clearing out. The brown piles. I stood wrapped inside my scarf, train was going farther south, and she began waiting for the bus. Eight minutes, waiting. to have room to breathe again. It looked more Always waiting. Waiting to stop being mis- like 10 PM than fi ve. gendered. Waiting for the hair to stop growing “CDs, loosies, smell-goods!” yelled another on my face. Waiting for my breasts to come. man draped in lime green. He paraded his Waiting for my thighs to grow. Waiting for my merchandise left to right for his potential LYDIAFU DANIELFISHEL refl ection to change. Waiting. Waiting to feel patrons to see. A long rush of wind from his pretty. Waiting to be wanted. Waiting to fall in push through the emergency door pressed love. Waiting. Waiting to get over heartbreak. most people past interest in even seeing what Waiting. Waiting to have a vagina. Waiting. he was selling. Most just looked back at their Lemon Layer Cake Waiting Waiting to not feel like a man anymore. Wait- phones, but a few had to get their fi x. By S NS By CM ing to feel like a real woman. Waiting. “Ay man! Over here!” one man yelled, then The bus appeared at the intersection just an abrupt stop. before the stop where I was standing. Sudden- The overhead blared, “Attention passen- IWONDERIFlemon layer cake is the appropri- I WAITEDINa small white room, in bright ly, feeling incapable of being in close proximity gers, attention passengers, we only have one ate fl avor for a dead man’s birthday, but who’s white light, for close to 20 minutes. I fi dgeted, to so many people, I turned right and started rail available due to crews working on the really going to tell me otherwise? crossing and uncrossing my feet, checking o in the direction of home. v tracks. We should be pulling o in a few min- Damon and I didn’t know each other long my refl ection in Snapchat, scrolling through utes. We appreciate your patience. Thank you enough to celebrate a birthday together, but Instagram on my phone without purpose. The for riding the CTA.” The operator sounded I’ve still baked him a triple-layer lemon cake smell of antiseptic fi lled the room; posters for like she was reading from a sheet of paper on the last day of September for the past half PrEP and HIV testing shared the walls with verbatim.