University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1996 Fish story and other American myths Anita Leverich The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Leverich, Anita, "Fish story and other American myths" (1996). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 2359. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/2359 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maureen and Mike MANSFIELD LIBRARY The University o f MONTANA Permission is granted by the author to reproduce this material in its entirety, provided that this material is used for scholarly purposes and is properly cited in published works and reports. ** Please check "Yes" or "No" and provide signature ** Yes, I grant permission No, I do not grant permission Author's Signature Date 5 I °[[n Any copying for commercial purposes or financial gain may be undertaken only with the author's explicit consent. FISH STORY AND OTHER AMERICAN MYTHS by Anita Leverich B.A. Kansas State University-Manhattan, 1987 M.A. Kansas State University-Manhattan, 1991 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts University of Montana 1996 Approved by Chair, Board of Examiners Dean, Graduate School <0-ie-9-6 Date UMI Number: EP33875 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI' Dissertation Publishing UMI EP33875 Copyright 2012 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 TABLE OF CONTENTS Fish Story 3 Riding Western 20 Turtle Mother 39 Flapdoodle 46 May Day 61 FISH STORY So one time I'm sitting in my room smoking a cigarette. I have this really comfortable chair, and I like to sit in it because it's near the window, so I can blow the smoke out, and my mom won't smell it and come up here to tell me not to smoke in her house. Outside I can see light from the neighbor's and I know it's Heather's bedside lamp. A few years ago Mom got this cabin in the divorce settlement. Heather's lived here all her life. Heather's dad has this bass boat. When I first met her, all I wanted was to get in that boat on the lake. So I hung around, saying things like, wow, what a rad boat, and finally she said, okay come on. Back then all I wanted was to use the boat. Then I saw her bait her hook. And she cast that thing about a mile. And the fish, they just jumped on her line. I looked at her hunched over in the boat, fidgeting with her gadgets and thought, wow, what a chick. So I start hanging around her dock on the week­ ends. And since we live out here in the country, and neither one of us has a car, she pretty much had to get used to me. So one time after she started taking me out in the boat, I gave her a pair of gold handled forceps and some nail clippers hung on a 3 purple shoe string, and she smiles and says, thanks, purple's my favorite color. She hung the tools around her neck, carefully, like it was a pearl necklace. When she used the tools the first time, she pinched the hook with the forceps and with one snap of her wrist the hook let go of the fish, and she plopped it back into the water. Nice, she said.- - • - Then she did somethina-- wf reallv-- y surorisina.. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. So now we're boyfriend and girlfriend, and it's really cool. Her parents' house is on the hill below ours. Lakeside property. Along the back of their house there's a deck, and all the rooms have sliding glass doors that open out on to the porch. Our house faces theirs. My room is in the front on the second story. I keep my binoculars right there on the window sill where I can pick them up and sweep the woods, not really looking for birds, just passing the time while I finish my cig. They're high power glass. At that's how I find out that in late fall and winter, I have a pretty clear view of what's happening down there. It's an okay view at the beginning of summer too when the bushes and trees are still bare. That first time she didn't even have anything interesting to show. Mostly I just used the binoculars to spy when her girls friends came over. 4 Her face is really the best anyway. Mostly she wears this surprised look. It's her natural face, not some adopted look like the one my mom got when I gave her the heart, carved from Ivory soap in the fourth grade. At first I couldn't believe a girl could really look like that. It must be a big effort to hold her eyebrows so high on her forehead all the time. They must cause some sort of a chain reaction. Or else there's a tiny little line that connects the arch of her brows to her eyelids to open and close the eyes as her brows move up and down. I figure that's the only way her eyes could stay so wide open all the time. It seems like they'd get dried out, especially in the wind off the lake. Mom calls her Betty Boop. When she does blink, she keeps them closed a second longer than it takes a normal guy to blink. Jeepers creepers, where'd ya get those peepers. Sometimes when her light's off, I think of her and sing that song to myself. I heard Rob Petry sing it on one of my favorite episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show. It helps him get out of a jam and look like a good guy in one easy swoop. I part my hair like Dick Van Dyke now, on the side, instead of in the middle like I used to. When I watch Rob and Laura dance, I put Heather's head on Laura and my head on Rob. My palm's 5 right on the low part of Heather/ Laura's back. I can almost feel her press against me while I watch Laura and Rob whirl around their living room. Man, what I wouldn't give to squeeze those boobs. Man. Can we ever dance on Rob and Laura's legs. So I'm sitting there, one time, in my chair, bored shitless. I pick up my binocs and point them at Heather's window, and I'm just about to look away when she walks in wearing nothing but a towel. And when she drops the towel, I think, whoa, the payload. I see her reach over and press the button on her disc player and she starts to dance by herself. Then I feel a little embarrassed. Like the time I saw my own reflection in a window and thought it was somebody else, so I smiled but it turned out to be me. And I felt my face turn red, so I looked around to see if anyone saw me. I drop the binocs and look around my room even though I know I'm alone. Nothing can keep me from looking. I'm hooked. If my mother walked into the room, I'd look. If my father walked in, I'd look for sure. If I pointed my binocular's toward Heather's window and saw her standing there with her own binoculars, watching me, through her 6 big green eyes, I still wouldn't be able to move away from my window. When Heather moves, she floats. No up and down movement. Just her shoulders and chest move, like she's sitting and dancing with just her upper body. Her hips swivel. When she walks, she sort of levitates. She dances back across the room and stops to kick the towel with her toes. Her black hair is wrapped up in another towel, so it's like she's wearing a turban. Then she sort of hops to the bed. Sits down. Squirts lotion into her hand and rubs it up and down her leg, on her thigh. Man, she's got long legs. I was always a boob man before. She squirts more lotion into her hand and rubs it into the other leg. I have to adjust. I think about jacking off, but I feel creepy already. She sits up straight and rubs big circles of lotion into her stomach and ribs. She dabs a bit on each nipple. Holding one breast with both hands, she massages herself.