The last two years, for the month of June, I wrote about a short story that was available online each day of the month… you can see the list for 2014 and 2015 in the comments for this page. It seemed like a good idea at the time. My blog readership fell precipitously and nobody seemed to give a damn about what I was doing – which was a surprising amount of work.
Because of this result, I’m going to do it again this year.
Today’s story, for day twenty six – Light and Light, by Chikodili Emelumadu
Read it online here:
Today we have a short, heartbreaking epistolary story.
This technique, of telling a story through a series of letters, is surprisingly common. Here it works well, emphasizing the gulf between the life that Angela leads and the actions of those that prey on her. Angela’s voice is never heard directly, but you can’t help but feel for the doom that she and her daughter are careening towards.
Eight years is the right age that the devil likes. In fact we usually say between six and ten. What number is in the middle of that? Eight. So you see, your daughter’s age is at peak ripeness for letting the devil wear her like glove.
It’s another story of sexual abuse, and of blaming the victim… of power used in the purpose of evil while proclaiming the good.
An all too common and universal tale.
Bill Chance 