Reason for Rejoice

University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2013 Reason For Rejoice Jennifer Karr University of Central Florida Part of the Creative Writing Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Karr, Jennifer, "Reason For Rejoice" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2993. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2993 REASON FOR REJOICE by JENNIFER E. KARR B.A. University of Central Florida, 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2013 Major Professor: Susan Hubbard © Jennifer E. Karr ii ABSTRACT This collection of short stories features characters who face unexpected situations arising from ordinary circumstances. Most of the characters find themselves compelled to react in ways that may even surprise themselves. A young woman finds her first feeling of joy in a long time in the face of her mother’s possible death. Best friends recall their years spent doing drugs and ignoring responsibility. When a woman confronts her fear of sex, she finds herself literally in another world. Rather than sticking with one form, several stories depart from traditional structures. One flash fiction piece is told in the first-person collective voice; another story evolves into magical realism; two are linked, and one story is told as an elegy. What matters are the characters, their struggles, and their relationships with one another. iii This is dedicated to my parents, who always encouraged my writing; Nana, the great oral storyteller; Grandma, who supported my storytelling until the day she died; my brother Richard, who read every script I wrote for him when we were little; The Pantaleos, who have been second parents to me; my extended family—Christina, Blane, Gina, Gabby, Amanda, Ryan, and Rachel; and to Philip and James. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my fellow student friends for their help with my writing, namely: Sherard Harrington, Genevieve Tyrrell, and Tamra Martin. I’d like to thank my thesis committee members, Pat Rushin and Darlin’ Neal, who have done far more than was ever required of them for my writing and for me. I’d also like to thank my other creative writing professors: Lisa Roney, Russ Kesler, and Jocelyn Bartkevicius, for all of their insight and help. I’d especially like to thank my thesis director, Susan Hubbard. Not only has she been a mentor to me since I was an undergraduate, but she’s frequently gone out of her way to make sure my writing was the best it could be. She’s been my advocate and my support over the past three years. v TABLE OF CONTENTS THE SAD GIRL FINDS REASON FOR REJOICE ...................................................................... 1 FROST .......................................................................................................................................... 12 NOTHING CAN HAPPEN AGAIN ............................................................................................ 14 TROLL .......................................................................................................................................... 29 HAROLD ...................................................................................................................................... 40 NOBODY, NOT EVEN THE RAIN, HAS SUCH SMALL HANDS ......................................... 53 BARGAINS .................................................................................................................................. 61 PRISCILLA’S POEMS ................................................................................................................ 83 SCATTERED ............................................................................................................................... 99 23................................................................................................................................................. 127 ALEX AND THE SHARK ......................................................................................................... 151 VELVET AND BOTTLES ......................................................................................................... 163 THESIS READING LIST........................................................................................................... 165 vi THE SAD GIRL FINDS REASON FOR REJOICE Adina drove past the large ornate house overlooking Lake Sybelia, and beyond to the tall buildings of downtown Orlando. Sometimes her nights called for lingering drives and ponderings at the lake. She parked at the edge of a cul-de-sac. For a while she didn’t get out of the car, only let the windows down so she could feel the wind. Even the air tasted wrong, like sulfur and suffering. Like something dead. She was able to walk through weeds and mud to get to a spot by the lake and away from houses. She felt an unease in nature, an unrest or imbalance. The breeze blew hard, making the hair on her arms stand up. The full moon reflected in the water looked less yellow-white than corroded brown. And then she saw it. To the right of her car, next to a tall oak tree, lay a dead rabbit. She got out of the car to examine it. The cool air made her shiver; she had forgotten to put her sweater on. She kneeled next to the rabbit’s body and sniffed the air. But she could already taste it—rotting meat, the pain this creature had felt, the curiosity in herself as she wondered why some other larger animal had killed the rabbit if not to eat it. The poor rabbit’s body was soaked in dark maroon blood. Its eyes were wide open and black. Its limbs were stiff when she touched them. She imagined the rabbit on a clear day hopping around, looking for bugs or whatever rabbits ate, drinking from the lake. She wondered again why it had been killed and not eaten. And the injustice of it all, of a meaningless death, made her eyes water. Adina hadn’t cried since she was a little girl. Now it seemed years and years of pain and loss were welling up in her in 1 response to the poor, dead little rabbit. She fell from her knees onto the ground and cried loudly. It felt sort of good. After a while she went back to her car to get her sweater. The song playing, “Lullaby” by The Cure, was her sister’s ring tone. Laryssa, her fourteen-year-old sister, should be in bed by now, Adina thought. “Hello?” “Adina, can you come home please?” Laryssa said. Her voice was lower than usual and seemed to vibrate over the phone lines. “Where were you? Why didn’t you answer earlier?” “I left my phone in the car,” Adina said. “What’s wrong?” She and Laryssa didn’t talk that much. They were seven years apart, which wasn’t really that much in the scheme of things, but it had meant a lot during their childhoods: a lack of understanding, time spent together, and normal sibling comradery. The disconnection between their ages had never been resolved, though Adina admitted to herself there was something more than that keeping them distant. She had always felt that they came from two different worlds because of their parents (Adina knew their mother before she went crazy, but Laryssa had only seen her after), and because Adina could be so introverted around her family. They didn’t even look related: Adina had stringy, ash-blond hair, dull brown eyes, dark yellowish skin, and constant dark circles under her eyes while Laryssa had pale skin, black hair, and radiant, large blue eyes. Laryssa was skinnier, too. Still, Adina felt an instinctual need to protect her younger sibling, and the fear in Laryssa’s voice, instead of worrying Adina, made her feel strong and ready for anything. “Mom’s not okay,” Laryssa said. “I really think you should come home.” 2 Adina sighed and wondered what was going on with their mother this time. She couldn’t go home. She had class in the morning, and she didn’t have the gas money anyway to drive the hour and a half back to their mother’s house in Malabar, the middle of nowhere, a town known for nothing other than an old preserved creek. “I can’t,” Adina said. “I have class. No money. Can you just handle it?” Adina had borrowed twenty bucks from her roommate to go towards her rent money (she’d already sent a check for an amount that wasn’t yet in her bank account). “No,” Laryssa said. “I think she took something. Maybe a lot of things. I don’t even know what or how much for sure. Please, Adina, come down here.” “What about Dr. Davis?” Adina asked. Her mother’s neighbor, Dr. Davis, was retired and kind. He occasionally watched the cat, Pepper, when her mother and Laryssa took a vacation. “Dr. Davis moved two months ago, Adina,” Laryssa said. “If she took something, maybe you should call 911...” “Mom would never forgive me. I don’t think she would take enough to kill herself anyway. She’s just freaking out, screaming that no one loves her, that she’s gonna die alone. She needs you. Adina, I really need you.” Laryssa had said the magic words. “I really need you” was like a code word among family members. Adina sighed and said, “Okay, I’m coming. Try to get control of her

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