Biting the Dust and Sending It Off

by Louise Yeiser

On Friday, I was ready to email my end-of-summer work to my MFA mentor. I had the email typed, proofed and spell-checked, with all six attachments lined up in their proper order: letter to mentor (4 pages), main manuscript, draft 2 (45 pages), second manuscript part 1, draft 2 (10 pages), second manuscript part 2, draft 1 (5 pages), book review 1 (5 pages) and book review 2 (3 pages). I was searching for the SEND button, when I had a flash - there he was, a World War II Japanese kamikaze pilot whose mission was to fly into an American aircraft carrier loaded up with just enough gas to get him there, but not enough to get him home. Oops, I value my life after all and I think I’ll head back to the base and let my commander know, he thought, as he plummeted into the sea with no parachute. Oh, for God’s sakes, Louise, I scolded as I pressed SEND, it’s your writing, not your life. Right?

6S

Louise Yeiser, whose full catalog is here, has been published in print in Kerlak’s Modern Witches, Wizards and Magic, and Six Sentences, Volume 1. Her work appears online at Tuesday Shorts, Flashquake, and Long Story Short. Her blog is here. She studies creative writing at Carlow University in Pittsburgh and Ireland.