by Summer Block Kumar
January 2009 "Six of the Month" Nominee
The old man had carried the crossword puzzle folded in his wallet for so long that the paper had gone soft and fine as cotton. He was one clue away from being done. He was too old to hurry. He was waiting for the world to teach him another word for relent. "Slacken," his son-in-law said loudly in the visitors lounge, "seven letters." His son-in-law was right: now nothing else fits.
6S
Summer Block Kumar's essays, short fiction, and poetry have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including artnet.com, McSweeneys, Small Spiral Notebook, Tarpaulin Sky, DIAGRAM, the San Francisco Chronicle, Monkeybicycle, Stirring, ALARM, Identity Theory, January Magazine, Rain Taxi, Newsweek Select, and Tripmaster Monkey. Visit her website here.
20090112
Crossword
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
Excellent.
I 'wowed' out loud.
Excellent six.
Lovely, sad story. Loved it.
Nik
Very nice...concise, evocative, captures something so true and touching about our, "Ooh, Ooh...I know...pick me...pick me!" culture, our need to be publicly right even when it's not our question. Well done!
Pieces like this are what keep me coming back to this site. Great writing, Summer.
killer diller
this was a delight
Outstanding!
Great allegorical piece and one that is well-written. Reminds me of the old gents sitting around in Brooklyn playing checkers/chess.
Oh, great. I'm very shallow and felt jealous for a monent or two. But, it is smashing and i got over it!Top Ho!
This is a six of art.
Just wonderful.
Lovely melancholy feel to it.
lovely, beautifully crafted, evocative. A gem.
Post a Comment