Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1 Issue #3 © 2019 Sun Dogs Creations Break in the Thunderstorm / Claire Lawrence Changing the World Through Words and Art Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1, Issue 3 Table of Contents Snow Drift / Jose Trejo Maya / 3 Running on Moontime / Kerry Muir / 4 Pas Toucher / Roger Camp / 29 $100 for 100 Words Contest Winner / 30 Love Poem / Pamela Sumners / 30 $100 for 100 Words Contest Finalists / 31 Suitable Match / Melinda Winograd / 31 In the Dark (a Micro Essay on Black Sails’ James Flint and the Gay Villain Trope) / Lory Saiz / 32 The End of the World? / Claudia Reed / 33 The Bar at the Bottom of the Hill / Thomas Boos / 34 As a God / Mary-Chris Hines / 35 Zapped by Electricity / Judith Ralston Ellison / 36 The Shovelers / Bob Thurber / 37 November / Jodee Stanley / 38 Whiskey Mermaid / AD Conner / 39 Plow in the Sky / Jesse Sensibar / 40 What Happened to Mr. Morrissey / Steven B. Rosenfeld / 41 Usetah’ Be People / Roeethyl Lunn / 53 The Cleanest Alimentación in Spain / David Joseph / 59 Life on Earth / Wynne Hungerford / 66 No Regrets / Epiphany Ferrell / 70 Saint Magpie of Loserville / Tiffany Promise / 72 Other People’s Land / Claudine Jacques / Translated by Patricia Worth / 98 La Terre des autres / Claudine Jacques / 107 Tear Stacks / Warren Decker / 117 1 Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1, Issue 3 Interview with Opwonya Innocent / Assisted by Coauthor Kevin McLaughlin / 130 Interview with Opwonya Innocent in the Luo Language, as Spoken by the Acholi People of Northern Uganda / Assisted by Coauthor Kevin McLaughlin / 133 Callin’ Mary / LD Sledge / 135 Ernest Seton Thompson, Malcolm X and Me. A Sort of Book Review. / Guinotte Wise / 139 ChicagoHenge / Daniel Weinberg / 145 Million Dollar Highway to Silverton, CO / Savannah Carlin / 146 Ice Dancing / Ron Pullins / 148 Contributors / 209 Cover: Break in the Thunderstorm / Claire Lawrence 2 Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1, Issue 3 Snow Drift Jose Trejo Maya Inscribe: stones covered in snows/storms. The view from the Observatory of Tulum: skies refract in jade iris glare. It began as a flashpoint from the sun on the sand. It’s your viewing the Equinox of Spring: walk towards new heights colonnaded rites. the passage of centuries past: 3 Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1, Issue 3 Running on Moontime Kerry Muir Characters: Maeve Age 16. Eight and a half months pregnant. Any race, as long as it is believable that she could be Missy’s daughter. Not necessarily gorgeous, but full of hope—which is gorgeous in and of itself. Missy Age 32. Beautiful bordering on gorgeous. Any race. A. Age 41. Caucasian, reddish-blond hair. Around 5’9”. Resembles vanished-from-the-spotlight rocker (at the time) Axl Rose. Maybe a little out of shape, slight gut coming on. Place: Lancaster, Winnetka, Reseda—places near Hollywood, but not of it. Time: February, 2003, except where indicated in flashback. Notes: Direction can be somewhat expressionistic. There should be a dream-like quality present throughout the play that is not unrealistic. Most scenes take place in the kitchen of Missy and A’s house, so—a table, a few chairs. A microwave. A sewing machine on the kitchen table, where Missy is piecing together handmade lingerie, nightgowns. To one side of the stage, a bed in shadows, indicating Missy and A’s bedroom. Homemade curtains hang from a makeshift window—outside, a view of the moon. The moon can be photo-real, or crudely expressionist—a child’s cut-out drawing of the moon, for example, dangling from a string. “They told me not to leave, but I left anyway.” Axl Rose, on leaving his hometown of Lafayette, IN, in a 1989 interview with Del James for Rolling Stone Spotlight on Maeve in the dark, who speaks to the audience. 4 Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1, Issue 3 Maeve: —and straight ahead of me the full-moon, right above the road. So low in the sky it almost touched the divider line—and it was huge. That moon looked wider than the road itself, that’s how full it was. And suddenly the moon was not a moon at all, but this big, round, shiny magnet pulling me, and this fierce thought just, like, ripped across my head—Now! Go! Run and grab it—that road, that moon, that whole new shiny life ahead! And I was about to do it. But then I thought—What if I never see Sinclair and Aaron and Francess again? I mean, you know, What if? ‘Cause I bitched about going to Bible and all, but the three of them? Were like—All I had. In the world. I mean, those three gave me everything. But then I was, like, That moon—! (stops herself) And then I remembered something kind of weird, and I spoke it to myself out loud to make sure I heard it—I said, Maeve—cause I was speaking to myself, so—I was all, like, Maeve, you might not remember this, but it was Sinclair who mentioned to you all about moon-time in the first place. And it was Francess, who confirmed it. And Aaron who backed her up after that, even when you still had your doubts—it was those three at Bible who were the ones to tell me: how moon-time is different from time on earth. How time on the moon dilates… whereas time on earth? Is compressed. That’s the words Sinclair used when he explained it to me— “dilated” and “compressed.” He said A clock running on the moon will run slower than a clock on earth. And yet— they both are telling the truth. Chew on that a while, Maeve. And this is a fact. Sinclair showed me on the internet, so—there you go. Scientists have proved it: There is no Reality. (beat) Or, better—there are many. One’s not truer than another, Maeve. They’re all relative, Sinclair said. And I took those words to heart, and I ran and ran and ran. Later, though, when I had time to think, I got afraid of God. Because God would not be thrilled for me to of run like that. Also, it occurred to me: God never mentioned moon-time in the Bible—I mean, not once. But then I thought, Why would God put me in Bible study with Sinclair and Aaron and Francess if He didn’t want me to learn about moon-time? After all, it was God who threw all of us in together like that. And anyway—I sure as hell wasn’t there for Bible, so—it must of been for the moon. God must of wanted me to know—at least, that’s how I thought. 5 Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1, Issue 3 And then I was gone. No more looking back. ‘Cause once you break the rules, they watch you like an eagle—you lose your privileges and bla-bla-bla, but— more than that? Looking back would’ve been a betrayal of everything they stood for—Sinclair, Francess and Aaron. A betrayal of the precious idea they gave to me. I had to follow through, if not for myself, then for them. And if not for them, then for the moon, and for the moon alone. Sound of a heart beating low and steady and reverberating. Lights fade on Maeve. 8 p.m.—home of Missy and A. The sound of the heartbeat fades into the sound of rain on the roof. Missy at the kitchen table, sewing. A knock at the door. Missy opens it, revealing Maeve. Pause. Maeve: Hi, I’m here for Axl…? Missy: Axl? (confused) There’s no Axl here. Maeve: Axl Rose? Missy: (beat) Is this a joke? Maeve: Um, no? 6 Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1, Issue 3 Missy: (beat) Okay, is this? This is, like—a goof? Like a spoof for Youtube—? Where’s the camera? I mean—come on! I’m not an idiot! Maeve: Um. I’m seriously here for Axl. So don’t be all, like, you don’t know. Pause. Missy: Axl Rose doesn’t live here. Maeve: Did he move? Pause. Missy: Um. Honey? Do you think Axl Rose would live in a two-bedroom tract home in Reseda? If Axl Rose is anywhere he’s in Malibu or Paris, France—he sure as hell ain’t here. Missy starts to close the door. Maeve: God fucking dammit! God! Fucking damn fucking piece of shit! Missy reopens the door. Maeve (cont’d): He’s such a liar! Such a liar! Lying sack of—oh, my God, I hate him! Missy watches Maeve melt down. After a bit – Missy: Are you…? (beat) Do you…? (beat) Is everything…? Pause. Maeve slumps to the ground, defeated. 7 Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 1, Issue 3 Missy: Look. It’s raining. Would you like some. I dunno. Some tea or something? Pause. Maeve remains inert. Missy (cont’d): It’ll be. It’ll be all right. I think you. I think you might need to eat. Am I right? You need to eat? Look, just—come on now. Come on, come in, come in. Missy helps Maeve off the ground. Escorts her inside the house. Missy (cont’d): When I was pregnant, I. Had um. I had this craving. I craved spaghetti and meatballs all the time. With little chunks of onions. I wanted to gnash those chunks between my teeth and split the flavor wide open. (beat) That and chocolate. I wanted chocolate all the time. Missy and Maeve enter kitchen. Missy (cont’d): I don’t have that but—I’ve got lasagna.