0:07

You. Know. That freeze a force of nature

0:10

on the next selected shorts we've got

0:12

four strong stories to blew me away

0:14

from our gardens to our whether the

0:16

Great Outdoors tests and defines us. I'm

0:19

Meg Wolitzer bravely elements and stay with.

0:21

Me: You're

0:23

listening to selected shorts where our greatest

0:25

actors transport us through the magic of

0:28

fiction. One short story at a. Time.

0:42

Sometimes. The setting of a story

0:44

can matter as much as the characters,

0:47

creating challenges for them, helping to define

0:49

them and giving the reader a visceral

0:51

context for the narrative. On. This

0:53

program we share for stories in which

0:55

nature has an impact. I.

0:57

Am not someone who spends a lot

0:59

of time in nature, and as a

1:01

result, I don't have too many nature

1:04

metaphors to rely on when I write

1:06

fiction. Instead, my fiction tends to include

1:08

nature's indoor parallel by which I mean

1:10

families in their native habitat, gathering around

1:12

the dinner table or sitting on the

1:14

grassy plains of the shag carpeting. In the

1:16

den. But. I do appreciate writers

1:18

who make the actual natural world

1:20

vivid and original, using it in

1:22

ways that amplify the emotional tension

1:24

in a scene. Landscape.

1:26

Can sometimes be the most memorable character.

1:28

Of all. Several. Of the

1:31

stories on this program were part of a show

1:33

we presented with Cash or It's and Utah Public

1:35

Radio K U S You Fm. In.

1:37

The first, a comic duel between

1:39

a woman and her garden. In

1:41

the second, a border crossing reveals

1:44

outer and inner landscapes. In

1:46

the third, mastering one of the elements,

1:48

and in the fourth, the upside of

1:50

bad weather. Humorous Jenny

1:53

Alan, the author of the collection

1:55

would everybody Please Stop Reflections on

1:57

life and other bad ideas has

1:59

mass. the art of disappointment. You

2:02

name it. Boyfriends, tie-dyes, slumber. She's tried

2:04

it, it hasn't worked, and she wants

2:06

to share her pain. This time it's

2:09

her garden. How does it grow? Well,

2:11

let's just say time to go to the supermarket.

2:14

Reading this essay about Alan's

2:16

not-so-green thumb is Kirsten Vangsness.

2:18

Best known as computer whiz

2:20

Penelope Garcia on Criminal Minds,

2:22

she's also an accomplished playwright,

2:24

performance artist, and podcast producer.

2:27

Here she is with Jenny Alan's garden

2:29

growing pains. Garden

2:41

growing pains. Now

2:44

that it's harvest season, I'm curious. How

2:47

does your garden grow this summer? Was

2:50

it thrilling in those early

2:52

days to watch your vegetable patch begin

2:54

to come alive? To step into your

2:56

garden in the dewy dawn and see

2:59

what magic had transpired

3:01

during the night, how each brave

3:03

green shoot had grown a little

3:05

taller, and then after only a

3:08

few weeks to spot adorable tomatoes

3:10

and green peppers no bigger than

3:13

you might find in a dollhouse

3:15

kitchen. To peek under

3:17

a fuzzy leaf and encounter a shy

3:19

cucumber the size of a pea, to

3:22

gasp at the appearance of

3:24

bugle-shaped squash blossoms, the cheerful

3:27

orange of school buses, or

3:29

there were no blossoms, none

3:32

the day before. But then something

3:35

happened. The cucumbers grew

3:37

bigger slowly and steadily, but when

3:39

they finished growing many were only the size

3:41

and shape of golf balls. You

3:44

rushed to the garden each morning to see

3:46

if the golf balls had elongated at all

3:48

had taken on anything that resembled a cucumber

3:50

shape. No, still golf balls.

3:54

Others of your cucumbers started out

3:56

shaped like tiny crescent moons and

3:58

stayed that way. The way at

4:01

full maturity, they resembled cashews. With.

4:05

Are supporting of the plastic label that came

4:07

with the seedlings which is stupidly throughout the

4:09

you missed. Some. Benson

4:12

minutes to cook bursts. Did.

4:15

I was a squash. The squash vines

4:17

grew as strict as hot, the squash

4:19

leaves as broad as butter plates, and

4:22

just the squash. Appellate Yellow

4:24

Bruno thicker than a white foam. Also

4:27

Gilles was three. They.

4:32

Do These vegetables underwent a

4:34

kind of spontaneous genetic mutation

4:36

in your garden, and you

4:38

invented a whole new strains

4:40

of We food. Made. You

4:42

could sell them to some researcher at Mit.

4:44

The Studies: Maybe the not size to convert

4:46

to be marketed as a cocktail. Fact: Says

4:51

you tube. They.

4:54

Sit. Your. Garden is filled

4:56

with the vegetable equivalent of failure to

4:58

thrive in since it hopes to look

5:00

at them. But

5:03

you cared for them. Still fortified

5:05

the to with huge sacks, a

5:07

very expensive low me soil from

5:09

Maine so heavy that you pulled

5:12

a muscle watching them from your

5:14

car. You lovingly watered every day.

5:16

and yet. Here. They are.

5:18

Purely. And Stupid. Those.

5:22

Vegetables that are not puny or

5:24

nonexistent like. good for you to

5:26

try to look with artichokes. Very

5:28

adventurous and whoa, those leaves or

5:30

two feet long and spiky. Just

5:32

like the pictures online. You. Been

5:34

to blink photos apart. Or troops to see where

5:37

the earth since are supposed to be. On

5:39

top of the stock in the middle of

5:41

all despite the Leafs put you put your

5:44

facebook killed his there is there's a stock.

5:47

So. The other drugs for a post. Some.

5:51

Negative Two: Tomato Harvest was a

5:53

success. Copious. Plump Tomato,

5:55

Sweet Cherry Tomatoes Dust Pollard

5:57

Heirloom Ones. The. Group: Peppers. The

6:00

and out good to a little on the small

6:02

side but close to regular size. You. Had

6:04

so many that he kept foisting them onto

6:06

your friends who were turned out also had

6:08

a bumper crop of green peppers and their

6:10

gardens. They probably stayed your green peppers away

6:13

to other friends until finally for the peppers

6:15

rotted got thrown away. And

6:19

remember earlier in the summer. When.

6:21

Your letters came up. That was fun. Play.

6:24

The letters was delicious. After you ate it

6:26

all, you could have planted, nor would it

6:28

have grown and had a whole second thought.

6:30

Maybe even a third. Why didn't do that?

6:33

Oh, that's right, Because. Each

6:35

head of lettuce took seven hours to

6:37

clean. Even.

6:40

After you watched each least individually

6:42

under the faucet and added them

6:44

dry with paper towels, entire forest

6:46

died to make the paper towels

6:48

you use to block one head

6:50

of lettuce. phillies still had invisible

6:52

specs of unpleasantly crunchy door in

6:54

them. Are so

6:56

so. To leave had revolting splints, speak

6:58

to them and you had to walk to

7:01

bleed outside. She could flip off the slugs.

7:03

Years. Of watching your Buddhists friends

7:05

gently coke spiders on to pieces of

7:07

paper and caring about doors have made

7:10

you feel seats about killing living things

7:12

even prose one. And

7:14

as a whole reincarnation thing as a credence which you

7:16

dad but you know stranger things have turned out to

7:19

be true and he slug could be your second grade

7:21

teacher. Mrs

7:28

to have on T. For

7:32

you. He

7:40

likes withdraw. It. says.

7:43

Anyone. True.

7:45

There's probably a Swiss chard committee at

7:47

work right now around some kitchen table

7:49

and green light. Plotting. To

7:52

do for swiss chard what they did for

7:54

tail. So we can

7:56

look forward. a Swiss surge ships and

7:58

Moody's and Salad stable. taste bitter

8:00

and terrible because Swiss chard tastes

8:03

bitter and terrible. But

8:05

they will be full of fiber and antioxidants and the

8:08

promise of living to a hundred. In

8:10

your opinion, the last welcome addition to lettuce

8:12

choices was arugula. Why couldn't

8:14

they have stopped with arugula? Arugula

8:17

wasn't up. And even

8:19

if you planted Swiss chard and it grew to normal

8:21

size and you cooked it to death so it tasted

8:23

less awful, you'd still have to clean it with a

8:25

million paper towels and there'd still be that grain of

8:27

dirt in it waiting to ambush your molars. No.

8:32

Better to put the garden to bed for the winter. Possibly

8:36

forever. Kirsten

8:53

Vangsness performed Garden Growing Pains by

8:55

Jenny Allen at the Ellen Eccles

8:58

Theater in Logan, Utah. I'm

9:00

Meg Wallitzer. I really enjoyed

9:02

Allen's trope here. It's bad enough

9:04

that everything is freakish or non-existent.

9:07

Most gardens deliver those disappointments. Allen

9:10

behaves as if her produce is a

9:12

family of underachieving children. I

9:14

am not a gardener myself, but I think I

9:16

know what kind I would be. When

9:19

people give me flowers, they don't last long. I

9:21

cut the stems on a diagonal and I add

9:23

the little packet of whatever they give you. Is

9:25

it salt? So if you're ever going

9:27

to give me something, I am really a fan of

9:29

good olive oil. I'm also a fan of Jenny

9:31

Allen. And we know one place to look for

9:33

her if we need her. Our

9:38

second work, Borders, is by prolific

9:40

indigenous writer Thomas King, whose

9:43

titles include Indians on Vacation

9:45

and Sufference. This

9:47

work was first published in 1993

9:49

in King's collection One Good Story,

9:51

that one, and then adapted into

9:53

a critically acclaimed graphic novel. Borders

9:56

presents the idea of nature in a Very different

9:58

context and on a very. Different scale

10:00

from Jenny Allen's playful essay in

10:03

this powerful piece that joins family

10:05

dynamics with identity politics, the vast

10:07

Canadian landscape as both a goal

10:10

and a witness to conflict. Reader.

10:13

Kimberly Guerrero is making her Selected

10:15

shorts broadcast debut with this piece

10:17

which was also presented as part

10:19

of our Logan Utah Live Show

10:21

with Cash. Arts and Utah Public

10:23

Radio. She was also the host

10:25

and reminded her audience of. Her work

10:28

in so such as Seinfeld Reservation

10:30

Dogs and the animated series Spirit

10:32

Rangers. When.

10:45

I was. well, maybe. Thirteen.

10:48

My. Mother announced that we are going to Salt Lake

10:50

City to visit my sister who let the reserve. Moved.

10:53

Across the line and found a job. The.

10:55

Tisa had not left home with by most blessing

10:57

but over time my mother had come to be

10:59

proud of the fact that with Tisa hidden all

11:01

of this on her own. See.

11:03

Did real good. My. Mother would say.

11:06

Then there were the fine points to live she says going.

11:09

See. Had not as my mother like to

11:11

tell Mrs many fingers gone floating after some

11:13

man like a balloon on his stream. See

11:16

hadn't suck out of the house

11:18

either and gone to Vancouver or

11:20

Edmonson or Toronto to chase rainbows

11:23

down alleys. And this, See hadn't

11:25

been pregnant. She.

11:27

Did real good. I

11:29

was seven or eight, when which he slept house

11:31

he was seventeen. Our father was from Rocky

11:33

Boy on the American side. Dad's.

11:35

American. Which. He sits on my

11:37

mother so I can come and go as I please. Send.

11:40

Us a postcard. But.

11:43

She's a pack your things that we headed for

11:45

the border Just outside is not reverse. The teacher

11:47

told us to watch for the water tower. Over

11:50

the next rises the first thing you'll see. We.

11:53

Got a water tower on the reserve. My

11:55

mother said. There's. A big one in

11:57

Lethbridge to. You'll. be able

11:59

to the tops of the flagpoles too. That's where

12:01

the border is. When we

12:03

got to Kootz, my mother stopped at the convenience store

12:06

and bought her and Letitia a cup of coffee. I

12:09

got an orange crush. This

12:11

is real lousy coffee. You're

12:13

just angry because I want to see the world. It's

12:16

just the water. From here on down

12:18

they got lousy water. I

12:20

can't catch the bus from sweet grass. You don't even have to

12:23

lift a finger. You're going to

12:25

have to buy your water and bottles if you want good

12:27

coffee. There was

12:29

an old wooden building about a block away with a

12:31

tall sign in the yard that said Museum. Most

12:34

of the roof had been blown away. Mom

12:36

told me to go and see if the place was open.

12:38

There were boards all over the windows and

12:40

doors. You could tell if the place was closed and

12:43

I told Mom so but she said to go and

12:45

check anyway. Mom and Letitia stayed by the card.

12:47

Neither one of them moved. I

12:49

sat down in the steps of the museum and watched them. I

12:52

don't know that they ever said anything to each

12:54

other but finally Letitia got her

12:56

bag out of the trunk and gave Mom a hug. I wandered

12:59

back to the car. The wind had come up and it

13:01

blew Letitia's hair across her face. Mom

13:04

reached out and pulled the strands out of Letitia's

13:06

eyes and Letitia let her.

13:10

You can still see the mountain from here,

13:12

my mother told Letitia in Blackfoot.

13:16

That's the mountains in Salt Lake, Letitia

13:18

told her in English. The

13:20

place is closed, I said, just like I told

13:22

you. Letitia tucked her hair

13:25

into her jacket and dragged her bag down the road

13:27

to the brick building with the American flag flapping on

13:29

the pole. When she got to where

13:31

the guards were waiting, she turned, put the bag

13:33

down and waved to us. We

13:36

waved back. Then my mother

13:38

turned the car around and we came home. We

13:41

got postcards from Letitia regular and

13:43

if she wasn't spreading jelly on the truth, she was

13:45

happy. She found a good job

13:47

and rented an apartment with a pool and

13:50

she can't even swim, my mother

13:52

told Mrs. Minnie Fingers. Most

13:55

of the postcards said we should come down and see the

13:57

city but whenever I mentioned this my mother would stiffen up.

14:00

So I was surprised when she bought two new

14:02

tires to the car and put on her blue

14:04

dress with the green and yellow flowers. I

14:06

had to dress up too for my mother did

14:09

not want us crossing the border looking like Americans.

14:13

We made sandwiches and put them in a

14:15

big box with pop and potato chips and

14:17

some apples and bananas and a big jar

14:19

of water. But

14:22

we could stop at one of those restaurants too, right?

14:25

We maybe should take some blankets in case she gets

14:27

sleepy. But we can

14:30

stop at one of those restaurants too, right?

14:33

The border was actually two towns, so neither one was

14:35

big enough to amount to anything. Coots

14:37

was on the Canadian side and consisted of

14:40

a convenience store and gas station, the museum

14:42

that was closed and bordered up, and a

14:44

motel. Sweetgrass was on the American

14:46

side, but all you could see was an overpass that

14:49

arched over the highway and disappeared into the prairies. Just

14:52

hearing the names of those towns, you would

14:54

expect that Sweetgrass, which is a nice name

14:56

and sounds like it is related to other

14:58

places such as Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw

15:00

and Kicking Horse Pass, would be on the

15:03

Canadian side and that Coots, which sounds abrupt

15:05

and rude, would be on the American side.

15:09

But this was not the case. Between

15:11

the two borders was a duty-free shop where you

15:13

could buy cigarettes and liquor and flax, stuff like

15:15

that. We left the reserve in the

15:18

morning and drove until we got to Coots. Last

15:20

time we stopped here, my mother said,

15:22

you had an orange crush. You

15:25

remember that? Sure, I said. That

15:27

was when Letitia took off. You

15:30

want another orange crush? That

15:32

means we're not going to stop at a restaurant, right?

15:36

My mother got a coffee at a convenience store

15:38

and we stood around and watched the prairies move

15:40

in the sunlight. Then we climbed back in the

15:42

car. My mother straightened the dress across her thighs,

15:45

leaned against the wheel and drove all the way

15:47

to the border in first gear. Slowly,

15:50

as if she were trying to see through a

15:52

bad storm or riding high on black ice, the

15:55

border guard was an old guy. As he

15:57

walked to the car, he swayed from side to side. his

16:00

beat-set wide apart, the holster on his

16:02

hip pitching up and down. He

16:05

leaned into the window and looked into the back seat

16:07

and looked at my mother and me. Morning,

16:10

ma'am. Good morning. Where are you

16:12

heading? Salt Lake City. Purpose of your visit?

16:14

Visit my daughter. Citizenship?

16:17

Blackfoot, my mother told him. Ma'am? Blackfoot.

16:20

I'm not a blackfoot. I'm a blackfoot. I'm a

16:22

blackfoot. I'm a blackfoot. I'm

16:25

a blackfoot. I'm a blackfoot. I'm

16:27

a blackfoot. I'm a blackfoot. It

16:30

would have been easier if my mother

16:32

had just said Canadian and had been done with it, but I

16:34

could see she wasn't going to do that. The

16:37

guard wasn't angry or anything. He just smiled and

16:39

looked towards the building, then he turned back

16:41

and nodded. Morning,

16:45

ma'am. Good morning.

16:48

Any firearms or tobacco? No.

16:53

Citizenship? Blackfoot. He

16:56

told us to sit in the car and wait, and we

16:58

did. In about five minutes, another guard came out with First

17:00

Man. They were talking as they came,

17:03

both men swinging back and forth like cowboys headed

17:05

for a gunfight. Morning,

17:07

ma'am. Good morning. Cecil

17:10

here tells me you and the girl are blackfoot. That's

17:13

right. Now, I

17:15

know that we got blackfeet on the American side

17:18

and the Canadians got blackfeet on their side, so

17:20

can we just keep our records straight? What

17:22

side do you come from? I

17:25

knew exactly what my mother was going to say, and I

17:27

could have told them if they'd asked me. Canadian

17:30

side or American side? Asked the guard.

17:34

Blackfoot side. She

17:36

said. It didn't take them long to

17:38

lose their sense of humor. I can tell you that. One

17:40

guard stopped smiling altogether and told us to park our car

17:42

at the side of the building and come in. We

17:45

sat on the wood bench for about an hour before

17:47

anyone came over to talk to us. This

17:49

time it was a woman. She had a gun,

17:51

too. Hi, she said.

17:54

I'm Inspector Pratt. I understand there's

17:56

a little misunderstanding. I'm

17:58

going to visit my daughter in Salt Lake City. My

18:00

mother told her, we don't have any guns or

18:02

beer. It's

18:04

illegal technicality, that's all. My

18:07

daughter's blackfoot too. The

18:09

woman opened a briefcase and took out a couple of forms and

18:11

began to write on one of them. Everyone

18:14

who crosses our border has to declare their

18:16

citizenship and here's what I'll do. You

18:18

tell me and I won't put it

18:20

down on the form. No one will know

18:22

but you and me. Her

18:25

gun was silver. There were several chips

18:27

in the wood handle and the name Stella was

18:29

scratched into the metal butt. We

18:32

ran the border office for about four hours

18:34

and we talked to almost everyone there. One

18:37

of the men bought me a Coke. My mother

18:39

brought a couple of sandwiches from the car. I

18:42

offered a part of mine to Stella but she said she

18:44

wasn't hungry. I told Stella

18:46

that we were blackfoot and Canadian but she said that

18:49

didn't count because I was a minor. In

18:51

the end she told us that if my mother didn't

18:53

declare her citizenship, we would have to go back to

18:55

where we came from. My mother

18:57

stood up and thanked Stella for her time then we got

18:59

back in the car and drove to the Canadian border which

19:01

is only about 100 yards away. I

19:04

was disappointed. I hadn't seen Letitia

19:06

for a long time and I had never been to

19:08

Salt Lake City. When she

19:10

was still at home, Letitia would go

19:12

on and on about Salt Lake City.

19:15

She'd never been there but her boyfriend Lester

19:18

Tallbull had spent an entire year in Salt

19:20

Lake at a technical school. It's

19:22

a great place, Lester would say. Nothing

19:24

but blondes in the whole state. Whenever

19:30

he said that, Letitia would slug him on the shoulder, hard

19:32

enough to make him flinch. He

19:35

had some brochures on Salt Lake and some maps and never

19:37

so often the two of them would spread them out on

19:39

the table. That's the temple. It's right

19:41

downtown. You got to have a pass to get in.

19:44

This is Liberty Park and it's got a zoo. There's

19:47

good skiing in the mountains. Got

19:49

all the skiing we can use, my mother would say.

19:52

People come from all over the world to ski at

19:54

Banff. Cartston's got a

19:57

temple, if you like those kind of things.

20:00

Oh, this one's real big, Lester would say.

20:02

They got armed guards and everything. Lester

20:06

and Letitia broke up, but I guess the idea

20:09

of felt like stuck in her mind. The

20:12

Canadian border guard was a young woman, and she

20:15

seemed happy to see it. Hi,

20:17

she said. You folks sure have a great day for

20:19

a trip. Where are you coming from? Standoff.

20:23

Is that in Montana? No.

20:26

Where are you going? Standoff.

20:30

The woman's name was Carol, and I don't guess she

20:32

was older than Letitia. Wow, you

20:34

both Canadians? Blackfoot.

20:38

Really? I have a friend who went to school

20:40

with someone who was a Blackfoot. Do you know

20:42

Mike Harley? No.

20:45

He went to school in Lethbridge, but he's really from

20:47

Browning. There was a nice

20:49

conversation, and there were no cars behind us, so there

20:51

was no rush. You're not bringing any

20:54

liquor back, are you? No. Any

20:56

cigarettes or plants or stuff like that? No.

20:59

Citizenship? Blackfoot. I

21:04

know, said the woman, and I'd

21:06

be proud of being Blackfoot if

21:08

I were Blackfoot, but you have

21:10

to be American or Canadian. When

21:14

Letitia and Lester broke up, Lester took his

21:16

brochures and mapped with them. So Letitia wrote

21:18

to someone in Salt Lake City, and about

21:20

a month later, she got a big envelope

21:22

of stuff. We sat at

21:25

the table and opened up all the brochures,

21:27

and Letitia read each one out loud. Salt

21:30

Lake City is the gateway to some of the

21:32

world's most magnificent skiing. Salt

21:34

Lake City is the home to one of

21:36

the newest professional basketball franchises, the Utah Jags.

21:40

The Great Salt Lake is one of the most

21:42

natural wonders in the world. It

21:45

was kind of exciting seeing all those

21:47

colored brochures on the table and listening

21:49

to Letitia read all about how Salt

21:51

Lake City was one of the best

21:53

places in the entire world. That

21:57

Salt Lake City sounds too good to be true,

21:59

my mother. told her, it has

22:01

everything. We got everything

22:03

right here. It's

22:06

boring here. People in

22:08

Salt Lake City are probably sending away for

22:10

brochures of Calvary and Lethbridge and Pincher Creek

22:12

right now. In

22:16

the end, my mother would say that maybe Letitia

22:18

should go to Salt Lake City. And Letitia would

22:20

say that maybe she would. We

22:24

parked a car on the side of the building, and Carol

22:26

led us into the small room on the second floor. I

22:29

found a comfortable spot on the couch and sat

22:31

through some back issues of Saturday night in Alberta

22:33

report. When I woke up, my

22:35

mother was just coming out of another office. She didn't

22:38

say a word to me. I followed her down the

22:40

stairs and out to the car. I

22:43

thought we were going home, but she turned

22:45

the car around and drove back toward the

22:47

American border, which made me think we're

22:49

going to go visit Letitia in Salt Lake City after all.

22:52

But instead, she pulled into the parking lot

22:54

of the duty-free store and stopped. Are

22:57

we going to see Letitia? No. We're

23:01

going home? Pride

23:04

is a good thing to have. Letitia

23:06

had a lot of pride, and so did my mother. I

23:09

figured that someday, I'd

23:11

have it too. So

23:16

where are we going? Most

23:18

of that day, we wandered around the duty-free store,

23:20

which wasn't very large. The manager

23:22

had a name tab with a tiny American flag on

23:24

one side and a tiny Canadian flag on the other.

23:29

His name was Mel. Towards evening, he began suggesting that

23:31

we should be on our way. I told him we

23:33

had no word to go, that either the Americans or

23:37

the Canadians would let us in.

23:39

He laughed at that and told us

23:41

we should buy something or leave. The car

23:43

wasn't very comfortable, but we did have all that food.

23:46

And it was April. So even if it did snow, as

23:48

it sometimes does on the prairies, we

23:51

wouldn't freeze. The next morning, my mother

23:53

drove us to the American border. It

23:55

was a different guard this time, but it was the

23:57

same. We didn't spend as much time in the office By

24:00

noon, we were back at the Canadian border. By

24:03

two, we were back on the duty-free shop parking

24:05

lot. The second

24:07

night in the car was not as much

24:09

fun as the first, but my mother seemed

24:11

a good spirit, and all in all, it

24:14

was as much an adventurism inconvenience. There

24:16

wasn't much food left, and that was a

24:18

problem. We had lots of water, as

24:21

there was a faucet on the side of the duty-free shop. One

24:24

Sunday, the teacher and I were watching television.

24:27

My mom was over at Mrs. Minnie Fingers. Right

24:30

in the middle of the program, Letitia turned

24:32

off a set and said she was going

24:34

to Salt Lake City. That life

24:36

around here was too boring. I

24:38

had wanted to see the rest of the program, and I really didn't

24:40

care if Letitia went to Salt Lake City or not. When

24:43

mom got home, I told her what

24:46

Letitia said. What

24:48

surprised me was how angry Letitia got when she

24:50

found out that I had told mom, you go

24:52

to Big Mouth. That's what you

24:55

said. What I said is

24:57

none of your business. I didn't say

24:59

anything. Well, I'm going for sure now. That

25:03

weekend, Letitia packed her bags, and we drove her

25:05

to the border. Mal

25:07

turned out to be friendly. When

25:10

he closed up for the night, his boundess still parked in

25:12

the lot. He came over and asked if our car was

25:14

broken down or something. My mother thanked him

25:16

for his concern and told him that we were fine, that things

25:18

would get straightened out in the morning. You're

25:21

kidding, Mal said. You

25:23

think they could handle the simple things. We

25:26

got some apples and a banana, I said,

25:28

but we're all out of hand sandwiches. You

25:32

know, you read about these things,

25:34

but you just don't believe it.

25:36

You just don't believe it. Hammergris

25:39

would be even better because it got more stuff for energy. My

25:44

mother slept in the backseat. I slept in the front

25:46

because I was smaller and could lie under the steering

25:48

wheel. That night, I heard my

25:50

mother open the car door. I found her

25:53

sitting on a blanket leaning against the bumper of the

25:55

car. You

25:57

see all those stars? She

25:59

said. When. I was a little

26:01

girl. My. Grammarly said: take me and

26:03

my sister out on the prairies and tell

26:06

us stories about all the stars. Depict

26:09

mouse going to bring as many hamburgers. Every

26:12

one of those stars as a story.

26:15

You see that bunch of stars over there that

26:17

look like fish. He

26:20

didn't say no. Coyote went

26:22

fishing one day. That's. How

26:24

it all started. We.

26:28

Set out under the stars at night

26:30

and my mother told me all sorts

26:32

of stories. She. Was serious

26:34

about it to. See. Tell them

26:36

slow. Repeating. Parts as she

26:38

went. As. It seeks patted

26:41

me to remember each one. Early

26:44

the next morning. That. Television vans

26:46

began to arrive and guys in suits

26:48

and women in dresses keeps rotting over

26:51

to as dragging microphones and cameras and

26:53

lights behind them. One of the bands

26:55

at a table set up with orange

26:58

juice and sandwiches and fruits. It

27:00

was for the crew but when I told them we had eaten

27:02

for a while of really skinny blond woman told us because he

27:04

as much as we wanted. They

27:07

mostly talked to my mother. Every so often one

27:09

of the reporters will come over and ask me

27:11

questions about how it felt to be an Indian

27:13

without a country. I.

27:15

Told them we had a house, nice house

27:17

on the reserve, and that my cousins had

27:20

a couple of horses we rode when we

27:22

went missing. Some. The

27:24

television people went over to the American border

27:26

and then they went to the Canadian border.

27:28

Around noon, a good looking guy in a

27:30

dark blue suit and an orange taboo ducks

27:32

on a job up in a fancy car.

27:35

He talked to my mother for a while and after

27:37

they were done talking at my mother called me over

27:39

and we got into our car. Justice.

27:41

My mother started the engine, Mel came

27:43

over again with a bag of peanut

27:45

brittle and told us that justice was

27:47

a damn hard thing to. But

27:50

that we shouldn't give up. I.

27:53

Would have preferred lemon job. But. It

27:55

was nice. I'm Melanie Wayne. Where.

27:59

we going down. Going

28:01

to visit Letitia. The

28:04

guard who came out to our car was all

28:06

smiles. The television lights were

28:08

so bright they heard my eyes. If

28:11

you try to look through the windshield in certain directions

28:13

you couldn't see a thing. Morning

28:16

ma'am. Good morning. Where

28:19

are you heading? Salt Lake

28:21

City. Purpose of your

28:24

visit? Visit my

28:26

daughter. Any tobacco, liquor,

28:28

or firearms? Don't

28:30

smoke. Any plants

28:32

or fruit? Not

28:34

anymore. Citizenship.

28:41

Blackfoot. The

28:43

guard rocked back on his heels and jammed his

28:45

thumbs into his gun belt. Thank

28:48

you, he said, his fingers patting the

28:50

butt of the revolver. Have

28:53

a pleasant trip. My

28:56

mother rolled the car forward and the television people had

28:58

to scramble out of the way. They

29:00

ran alongside the car as we pulled away from

29:02

the border and when they couldn't run any further

29:04

they stood in the middle of the highway and

29:06

waved and waved and waved. We

29:09

got to Salt Lake City the next day.

29:11

Letitia was happy to see us and that first

29:13

night she took us out to a restaurant that

29:15

made really good soup. The

29:18

list of pies took up a whole page.

29:20

I had cherry, mom had chocolate. Letitia said

29:22

that she saw us on television the night

29:25

before. During the meal she had us tell

29:27

her the whole story over and over again.

29:30

Letitia took us everywhere. We went to a

29:32

fancy ski resort. We went to the temple.

29:34

We got to go shopping in a couple

29:36

of large malls but they weren't as large

29:38

as the one in Edmonton and my

29:41

mom said so. After

29:44

a week or so I got bored and I wasn't

29:46

at all sad when mother said that we should be

29:48

heading back home. Letitia wanted to

29:50

stay longer but my mom said no that she

29:52

had things to do back home and that next

29:55

time Letitia should come up and visit. Letitia

29:58

said she was thinking about moving back. and

30:00

Mom told her to do as she pleased, and

30:03

Letitia said that she would. On

30:06

the way home, we stopped at the duty-free shop, and

30:09

my mother gave Mel a green hat that said, Salt

30:11

Lake across the front. Mel

30:14

was a funny guy. He

30:16

took the hat and blew his nose

30:19

and told my mother that she was an

30:21

inspiration to us all. He

30:24

gave us some more peanut brittle and came

30:26

out to the parking lot and waved

30:28

at us all the way to the Canadian border.

30:32

It was almost evening when we left Kootz. I

30:35

watched the border through the rear window until all you

30:37

could see were the tops of the flag poles

30:39

and the blue water tower, and

30:41

then they rolled over a hill and

30:44

disappeared. Kimberley

31:00

Guerrero performed Borders by Thomas King.

31:03

I'm Meg Wallitzer. King

31:05

tackles big subjects here, indigenous

31:07

rights, tribal pride, bureaucratic red

31:10

tape, family dynamics. But

31:12

the whole event is filtered through the eyes of

31:14

a child. Letitia's sister recognizes

31:16

the stakes, but can't help seeing

31:19

this thwarted road trip as an

31:21

excellent adventure through a beautiful, if

31:23

contested, landscape. When

31:26

we return, Kirsten Vangsness flies

31:28

and Jane Curtin takes shelter.

31:30

You're listening to Selected Shorts recorded

31:33

live in performance at Symphony Space in

31:35

New York City and at other venues

31:37

nationwide. Welcome

31:57

back. This is Selected Shorts where our

31:59

great... Greatest actors transport us through the

32:01

magic of fiction, one short story at

32:03

a time. I'm Meg Wallitzer. On

32:07

today's show, Stories About Nature. If

32:10

you're an outdoorsy type, this show will resonate.

32:12

And even if you're an armchair nature lover,

32:14

we have plenty of stories in our podcast

32:16

that will allow you to experience the

32:18

elements from home. Just

32:21

go to selectedshorts.org or search for

32:23

us wherever you get podcasts. And

32:25

while you're there, subscribe to the show so

32:27

that you'll always be with us wherever you

32:29

are. And speaking

32:31

of wherever you are, you too can

32:34

be part of the Selected Shorts family

32:36

and can see the actors and hear

32:38

the gasps and laughter live in a

32:40

theater near you. While most

32:42

of our stories are recorded at our home theater

32:44

of symphony space in New York City, every

32:47

year we pack our bags and take the show

32:49

on the road. We go coast

32:51

to coast to find fresh audiences for our

32:53

live show, and we'd love to include you.

32:57

In April, we're headed to the Irvine Barkley

32:59

Theater in California, the Field Arts

33:01

and Event Hall in Port Angeles, Washington,

33:04

and to the University at Albany in New York

33:06

State. We are hitting the

33:08

road with actors including Joanna Gleason,

33:10

Melora Harden, Richard Kind, and more.

33:13

We hope to see you there. To see

33:15

the current lineup of Selected Shorts dates on the

33:17

road and at our home theater

33:19

of symphony space, head to selectedshorts.org

33:21

for the latest tour dates and

33:24

ticket information. And did I mention

33:26

our podcast? Of course I did, but I

33:28

also wanted to let you know that

33:30

that's where you'll find bonus episodes and

33:33

backstage conversations with actors who perform in

33:35

the show. If you like what

33:37

you hear, please write us a review and tell

33:39

your friends how much you love Selected Shorts. Our

33:42

third story about nature and its elements

33:45

comes from writer Alice Miller. Her

33:47

work includes the collection's Sweet Love,

33:49

Water, and the Nature of Longing.

33:52

This whimsical piece has one obvious theme,

33:55

which is right in its title, Flying,

33:57

but it also touches on aging and death.

34:01

And here's the versatile Kirsten Wangsness

34:03

back to try her hand at

34:05

flying instead of gardening. Flying.

34:18

When Allie Lester was six years old,

34:20

her cousin Mac put her to fly.

34:24

Once they were airborne, the act seemed as

34:26

natural as humming. The distance between

34:28

sky and earth an infinite chasm.

34:31

Clouds were now just a stretch of the hand away.

34:34

The microscopic world below struck her as

34:36

laughable. Too tiny to

34:38

matter. Afterward, back

34:40

on the ground, her ears still tingling

34:42

from cold, Allie studied

34:44

Mac's disbelief. How long

34:47

have you known how? She

34:49

asked as they stamped their feet and huddled together

34:51

out of the wind behind her ant's shed. Well,

34:54

what are you talking about, Allie? I've

34:57

always known how to fly, you know. Boys.

35:04

I'm a boy. All

35:07

boys can fly? Allie

35:09

wanted to know. Mac

35:12

glanced over his shoulder to ensure they were out

35:14

of earshot. He hunkered down on

35:16

his heels, the collar of his blue jean jacket

35:18

standing straight up against his neck. The

35:20

tips of his ears were still red. Allie,

35:24

he said. He was five years older

35:27

than she. She thought he might

35:29

be poking fun at her, but his expression was

35:31

more one of concern. When Mac

35:33

scratched out the word, yes,

35:37

with the end of a pointed stick and the dirt at their feet, she

35:39

realized he was trusting her to keep a

35:41

secret. Allie had no

35:44

brothers, just a younger sister. Mac

35:46

knew how to do everything. Before

35:48

flying, Mac had showed her how to

35:50

leap from a log onto the stream

35:52

that ran below the slope of this

35:55

family's property. On another

35:57

visit, Mac had taught her to drive

35:59

a track. her. Even

36:01

though her feet couldn't reach the accelerator, she

36:04

had steered through a field of mustard with

36:06

Matt crouched below her, shifting and manipulating the

36:08

pedals until she rammed the front up against

36:11

an old elm tree. Don't

36:14

tell anyone, he would instruct her. Each

36:16

time he taught her something new. I

36:19

don't know. She always promised, savoring

36:22

their secrets like gifts. And

36:25

he cautioned over and over, don't

36:27

ever try to fly without me.

36:30

You get hurt. He

36:32

told her then about Prometheus, who stole the

36:35

god's fire and gave it to man, and

36:37

how Prometheus was punished for his betrayal. His

36:39

liver cruelly worked over by the beak of

36:41

an eagle. Understand? He said. For

36:45

a long time, Ally thought Matt meant that she would

36:47

be punished. But later, as

36:49

she grew into a young woman, she

36:51

realized he feared for herself. The

36:55

memory of flying simmered inside her for

36:57

years after, and often on her way

36:59

home from school she gazed enviously up

37:02

at the sky, her

37:04

mind expanding to accommodate the lack of

37:06

limits. Suddenly, the sheer

37:08

muscle of consequence, if

37:10

she disobeyed, wrenched her back to

37:12

earth. Methodically, she planted her

37:14

feet, one in front of the other, following

37:16

the linear way home. Ally

37:19

always believed Mac and never tried to fly again.

37:22

As the years wore on, she sometimes imagined it

37:24

was only a dream. By the

37:26

time she was old enough to be able to

37:29

distinguish between fantasy and reality, she still had her

37:31

doubts about the memory of flying with Mac. Now

37:34

she wants to write him an ask, but he

37:36

is busy with work and a family, and she

37:39

hasn't seen him in ages. Ally

37:41

thinks often about flying. She

37:44

flies in her dreams, soaring

37:46

away from her earthly body, returning just

37:48

in time to hear the alarm,

37:51

to feel her husband reaching for her, to answer

37:53

the cries of her children. She

37:56

knows better than to mention flying to anyone. When

37:58

normal people fly, they bite. Tickets and

38:00

sit-in airplanes. Allie has done that

38:02

too, but it's a cheap trick Sometimes

38:07

as she takes the children down to the beach

38:09

to watch the hand gliders She

38:12

can't imagine being strapped to such a

38:14

contraption But she watches anyway

38:16

reading their faces for hints as

38:19

they rise off the cliff edges like Icarus She

38:22

wonders if they ever come here alone Secretly

38:25

at night with no one around without

38:27

all the equipment to soar

38:29

through the air unhindered Really

38:32

does not regret being a wife and a mother

38:35

choosing one thing for another The

38:38

closest she has ever gotten to that feeling of

38:40

flying years ago has been in labor Just

38:43

as the baby's head pushed out. She checks

38:45

about binoculars to study birds to

38:48

watch them fly through meadows and forests But she

38:50

has no real interest in the birds themselves and

38:52

no desire to learn their names or find out

38:54

about their habitats The

38:56

children are very rapidly two sons and a

38:59

daughter and she suspects they would

39:01

understand if she confided to them that she had

39:03

flown The feeling has

39:05

begun to grow stronger these days Not

39:08

only the certainty that she and Mac

39:10

actually flew But that she

39:12

can do it again She considers

39:14

psychological counseling but sees no point in

39:17

being analyzed This is no

39:19

metaphor. She wants to fly that is

39:21

all this is not about

39:23

unfulfilled desires and creative urges a

39:26

stifling marriage a slow

39:28

emotional death it is about memory

39:30

and Experience and wanting

39:32

to trust in both When

39:36

windy afternoon Ali steps into the backyard

39:39

With the thought in mind that perhaps she

39:41

can test out her impulses Maybe lift off

39:43

the ground a few inches not really go

39:45

anywhere certainly not leave her children She

39:48

pulls an orange crate from the garage stands on

39:50

it feels the wind sifting through her hair She

39:53

raises her arms extends curves

39:57

and straightens them Like a

39:59

neighbor is watching calls the police.

40:02

She glances around, no sign of

40:04

anyone on either side of their house. She

40:07

closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and

40:10

begins to flap her arms. It

40:14

is moments before she realizes she

40:17

is erising. After

40:19

a few moments after that, she

40:22

actually begins to ascend. She

40:25

keeps her eyes tightly shut and imagining

40:27

how the world below must be disappearing.

40:29

Now she pushes through a mist of

40:31

clouds. She can feel the vapor still

40:33

higher until the air is so thin

40:36

she can hardly catch her breath. She

40:38

tends to go this far as

40:41

she slowly opens her eyes. She

40:45

sees she is

40:47

higher than that day she flew with

40:49

Mack. Never

40:52

let them know you can fly,

40:54

Mack, it said. Ellie

40:56

lands. She circles above

40:58

weightless, her sense of ease restored.

41:00

She twists in and out of

41:03

clouds, drifts down slowly until she

41:05

is low enough to distinguish buildings.

41:08

She finds as she lets the wind take her

41:10

she can float through the air like a swimmer

41:12

in water. After a

41:14

time, she turns in the direction of

41:16

home, wondering how to calculate her landing,

41:18

grateful to Mack years ago for having taken her

41:20

up but now wishing he had told her how

41:23

to get back down. She

41:25

closes her eyes. She feels herself falling

41:28

ever so gently out of the sky like

41:30

a leaf. Downward she

41:32

swirls lazily catching the currents,

41:34

pausing to rest in a pocket

41:36

of still air. When she lands,

41:38

there is only the soft thud

41:40

of her feet touching the earth. At

41:43

dinner that night she sits flushed at

41:45

the table surrounded by her three children

41:48

and Nick, all of whom she loves.

41:51

She is alternately elated and sad

41:53

because she cannot tell them where

41:55

she has been. But her

41:58

desire to fly is still not satisfied. Over

42:00

the next few days it grows. One

42:03

night, when the children sleep, she tiptoes

42:05

into their room. She moves

42:07

past the bunk beds where the boys breathe in unison

42:10

and across the floor to her daughter. Allie

42:13

pauses at the foot of the single bed, studying

42:15

the pattern of light and shadow cast by

42:18

the aspen tree outside the window. It

42:20

shivers. The wind is stirring.

42:23

Allie listens. Nick is

42:26

still downstairs reading. She looks

42:28

out the window into the backyard. The

42:30

orange crate shimmers in the middle of the lawn. Allie

42:33

isn't sure if what she does next is right

42:35

or how to calculate the risk. She

42:38

lifts her sleeping daughter into her arms. The

42:41

child is heavy, her breath warm on

42:43

Allie's face. Lana, the

42:46

child murmurs through the thickness of sleep. Shh,

42:49

shh, shh, shh, says Allie. I

42:52

want to show you something. But

42:55

you must promise not to tell the boys.

43:00

The child nods drowsily. Allie

43:02

descends the back stairs, keeping her footsteps

43:04

light all the way home. She

43:07

is gripped with excitement that the

43:09

child has no idea what

43:12

she has agreed to. That

43:28

was Kirsten Vangsness reading Alice Miller's

43:30

Flying. I'm Meg Wolitzer. To

43:33

complete this quartet of stories about forces

43:35

of nature and how they shape us,

43:37

we're bringing back a favorite from our

43:39

archives. Writer Kate Chopin lived

43:41

from 1850 to 1904 and

43:44

is considered a bellwether of early

43:47

feminism for her devastating novel The

43:49

Awakening. But she's also

43:51

able to advance her agenda in subtler ways.

43:54

In The Storm, the upheaval in nature

43:56

finds its analog in the emotions and

43:58

acts of the characters. Reader

44:01

Jane Curtin is known for work

44:03

in iconic television shows like Saturday

44:05

Night Live and Kate and Ally,

44:07

and has had a rich theatrical

44:09

career as well. But for

44:11

us, she's an icon unto herself,

44:14

veteran of many selected shorts readings. And

44:17

here she is in one of her best,

44:19

Kate Chopin's The Storm. The

44:24

leaves were so still that even Beebe thought

44:26

it was going to rain. Bobineau,

44:29

who was accustomed to converse on terms

44:31

of perfect equality with his little son,

44:33

called the child's attention to certain somber

44:35

clouds that were rolling with sinister

44:37

intention from the west, accompanied

44:40

by a silyn-threatening roar. They

44:43

were at Friedheimer's store and decided to remain

44:45

there till the storm had passed. They

44:47

sat within the door on two empty kegs.

44:50

Beebe was four years old and looked very

44:52

wise. Mama

44:54

befraid, yes, he suggested, with

44:56

blinking eyes. She'll

44:59

shut the house. Maybe she got

45:01

Sylvie helping her this evening, Bobineau responded

45:03

reassuringly. No,

45:05

she ain't got Sylvie. Sylvie was helping her

45:07

yesterday, pipe Beebe. Bobineau

45:10

arose and, going across to the counter, purchased

45:12

a can of shrimps, of which Calixto was

45:14

very fond. Then

45:16

he returned to his perch on the keg and

45:19

sat stolidly holding the can of shrimps while

45:21

the storm burst. It

45:23

shook the wooden store and seemed to be

45:25

ripping great furrows in the distant field. Beebe

45:28

laid his little hand on his father's knee and was

45:31

not afraid. Calixto

45:33

at home felt no uneasiness for their

45:35

safety. She sat at a

45:37

side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine.

45:40

She was greatly occupied and did not notice

45:43

the approaching storm. But

45:45

she felt very warm and often stuck to

45:47

mop her face on which the perspiration gathered

45:49

in beads. She

45:52

unfastened her white sack at the throat. It

45:55

began to grow dark and suddenly, realizing the

45:57

situation, she got up hurriedly and went about

45:59

closing. windows and doors. Out

46:02

on the small front gallery she had

46:04

hung Bobineau's Sunday clothes to air and

46:06

she hastened out to gather them before

46:08

the rain fell. As

46:10

she stepped outside, Alcy LaBalliere rode

46:12

in at the gate. She

46:15

had not seen him very often since her marriage

46:17

and never alone. She

46:19

stood there with Bobineau's coat in her hands and

46:21

the big raindrops began to fall. Alcy

46:24

rode his horse under the shelter of a side

46:26

projection where the chickens had to cuddle and there

46:29

were plows and a harrow piled up in the

46:31

corner. May I come and wait

46:33

on your gallery till the storm is over, Callixta, he

46:35

asked? Come long in,

46:37

Monsieur Alcy. His voice

46:40

and her own startled her as if from a

46:42

trance and she seized Bobineau's vest. Alcy,

46:45

mounting to the porch, grabbed the trousers and

46:47

snatched Bebe's braided jacket that was about to

46:49

be carried away by a sudden gust of

46:52

wind. He expressed

46:54

an intention to remain outside but it was

46:56

soon apparent that he might as well have

46:58

been out in the open. The water beat

47:00

in upon the boards and driving sheets

47:02

and he went inside, closing the door

47:04

after him. It was

47:06

even necessary to put something beneath the door to keep

47:09

the water out. My

47:11

water rain, it's good two years since it

47:13

rained like that, exclaimed Callixta as she rolled up

47:15

a piece of bagging and Alcy

47:17

helped her to thrust it beneath the crack.

47:20

She was a little fuller a figure than five

47:22

years before when she married but

47:24

she'd lost nothing of her vivacity. Her

47:27

blue eyes still retained their melting quality

47:29

and her yellow hair disheveled by the

47:31

wind and rain kinked more stubbornly than

47:33

ever about her ears and temples.

47:36

The rain beat upon the low shingled roof

47:38

with a force and clatter that threatened to

47:40

break an entrance and deluge them there. They

47:44

were in the dining room, the sitting

47:46

room, the general utility room. Adjoining

47:49

was her bedroom with Bebe's couch

47:51

alongside her own. The

47:53

door stood open and the room

47:55

with its white monumental bed, its

47:57

closed shutters, Looked dim. And.

48:00

Mysterious. Lc.

48:02

Flung himself onto a rocker and collects to

48:05

nervously began to gather up from the floor

48:07

the lengths of a cotton seat. which she

48:09

had been sewing. If. This

48:11

keeps up. Do you say it's a live

48:13

is gonna stand it She exclaimed would have

48:16

you got to do with the levees I

48:18

got enough to do and as boehner would

48:20

be out and that storm is the only

48:23

didn't less freedoms. Let us hope collects

48:25

to the bobo knows got sense enough to come

48:27

in out of sight loan. She

48:29

went stood at the window with a greatly. Disturb look

48:31

on her face. She liked

48:33

the frame that was clouded with moisture. And

48:37

stiflingly. Aussi.

48:39

Got up and. Joined her at the window looking

48:41

over his shoulder. The. Rain was

48:43

coming. Down and sheets obscuring the view

48:45

as far as cabins and enveloping

48:47

the distant would in a gray

48:50

missed. The. Playing at the

48:52

Lightning was incessant. A. Both struck.

48:54

A tall china very tree at the edge of the

48:56

field. It. Filled all visible space

48:58

with a blinding glare and the crash seem

49:00

to invade the very boards they stood. Upon.

49:04

Felix to put her hands to her eyes and

49:06

that a cry staggered backward. Aussies,

49:08

Arms encircled her. And.

49:10

For an instant, he drew her close and

49:13

spasmodically to him. On. T

49:15

she cried releasing. Herself. From

49:17

his encircling arm and retreating from the. Window

49:19

the house of the next. If

49:21

I only knew where Bb ones.

49:24

She. Would not compose herself. She would not

49:26

be seated. Lc classed her

49:28

shoulders and looked into her face. The

49:31

contact of her warm palpitating body when

49:33

he had unthinkingly drawn her into his

49:36

arms had aroused all the all time

49:38

and saturation and desire for her flesh.

49:40

Clicks to he said, don't be frightened,

49:42

nothing can happen The house. Is. Too

49:44

low to be struck with so many

49:46

tall trees standing about. say, aren't you

49:48

gonna be quiet? See? aren't you? He.

49:51

Pushed her hair back from their face that was

49:53

warm and steaming, Her. Lips were

49:56

is red and moist is Palmer granite seed.

49:58

her white neck and of her

50:01

full firm bosom disturbed him powerfully.

50:04

As she glanced up at him, the fear in

50:06

her liquid blue eyes had given place to a

50:08

drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed

50:10

a sensuous desire. He

50:13

looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him

50:15

to do but to gather her lips in a kiss. It

50:19

reminded him of assumption. Do

50:21

you remember? In assumption, Calixta,

50:24

he asked in a low voice broken by

50:26

passion. Oh, she remembered.

50:28

For in assumption, he had kissed her and

50:31

kissed and kissed her until

50:33

his senses would well nigh fail and

50:35

to save her he would resort to a

50:38

desperate flight. If she

50:40

was not an immaculate dove in those days, she

50:42

was still inviolate, a passionate

50:44

creature whose very defenselessness had made

50:46

her defense against which his

50:48

honor forbade him to prevail. Now,

50:52

well, now her lips

50:54

seemed in a manner free to be tasted, as

50:57

well as her round white throat and her

51:00

whiter breasts. They did

51:02

not heed the crashing torrents and the roar of the

51:04

elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms.

51:07

She was a revelation in that dim

51:09

mysterious chamber, as white

51:11

as the couch she lay upon. Her

51:14

firm elastic flesh that was knowing for

51:16

the first time its birthright was

51:18

like a creamy lily that the sun invites

51:20

to contribute its breath and perfume to the

51:22

undying life of the world. The

51:26

generous abundance of her passion without guile

51:28

or trickery was like a white flame

51:30

which penetrated and found response in depths

51:32

of his own sensuous nature that had

51:35

never yet been reached. When

51:37

he touched her breasts, they gave themselves

51:39

up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips.

51:42

Her mouth was a fountain of delight, and

51:45

when he possessed her they seemed to swoon

51:47

together at the very borderland of life's

51:49

mystery. He stayed cushioned

51:52

upon her, breathless, dazed, and innovated, with

51:54

his heart beating like a hammer upon

51:56

her. With one

51:58

hand she clasped his head. her

52:00

lips lightly touching his forehead, the

52:03

other hand stroked with a soothing rhythm

52:05

his muscular shoulders. The

52:07

growl of the thunder was distant and passing

52:09

away. The rain

52:11

beat softly upon the shingles, inviting them to

52:13

drowsiness and sleep, but they dared not

52:15

yield. The rain

52:17

was over, and the sun was

52:19

turning the glistening green world into a palace

52:21

of gems. Calixta

52:24

on the gallery watched Elsie ride away.

52:27

She turned and smiled at her with a beaming

52:29

face, and she lifted her pretty tin in the

52:31

air and laughed out loud. Bobino

52:34

and Bebe trudging home stopped without

52:36

it the cistern to make themselves presentable.

52:39

My, Bebe, what will your mama say? You ought

52:42

to be ashamed. You ought not put on those

52:44

good pants. Look at them, and that mud on

52:46

your collar. How you got that mud on your

52:48

collar, Bebe? I never saw such a boy. Bebe

52:52

was the picture of pathetic resignation.

52:55

Bobino was the embodiment of serious solicitude

52:57

as he strove to remove from his

52:59

own person and his sons the signs

53:01

of their tramp over heavy roads and

53:03

through wet fields. He

53:05

scraped the mud off Bebe's bare legs and

53:07

feet with a stick and carefully removed all

53:10

traces from his heavy brogans. Then

53:12

prepared for the worst, the meeting

53:14

with an overscrupulous housewife, they entered cautiously

53:17

at the back door. Calixta

53:19

was preparing supper. She

53:21

had set the table in his dripping coffee at the

53:24

hearth. She sprang up as they came in. Oh,

53:27

Bobino, you back, my, but I was uneasy.

53:29

Where you been during the rain? And Bebe

53:31

ain't wet. He ain't hurt. She

53:33

had clasped Bebe and was kissing him

53:36

effusively. Bobino's explanations and apologies,

53:38

which he had been composing all the way,

53:40

died on his lips as Calixta felt him

53:42

to see if he were dry and seemed

53:45

to express nothing but satisfaction at their

53:47

safe return. I brought

53:49

you some shrimps, Calixta offered Bobino, hauling the

53:51

can from his ample side pocket and laying

53:53

it on the table. Shrimps,

53:56

oh, Bobino, you too good for anything.

53:58

And she gave him a smacking. kiss

54:01

on the cheek that resounded, J'voure, bon,

54:03

we'll have a feast tonight, uh-huh. Bobanoe

54:06

and Bebe began to relax and enjoy

54:08

themselves, and when the three seated themselves

54:10

at table, they laughed much and so

54:12

loud that anyone might have heard them

54:14

as far away as La Balieres. Alcy

54:17

La Balieres wrote to his wife Clarice that

54:19

night. It was a loving

54:21

letter full of tender solicitude. He

54:24

told her not to hurry back, but if she and

54:26

the babies liked it at Biloxi, to stay a month

54:28

longer. He was getting on

54:30

nicely, and though he missed them, he was willing to

54:33

bear the separation a while longer. Realizing

54:35

that their health and pleasure were the first

54:37

things to be considered. As

54:40

for Clarice, she was charmed upon

54:42

receiving her husband's letter. She

54:44

and the babies were doing well. The

54:47

society was agreeable. Many

54:49

of her old friends and acquaintances were at the

54:51

bay, and the first free

54:53

breath since her marriage seemed to restore the

54:55

pleasant liberty of her maiden days. Devoted

54:58

as she was to her husband, their intimate conjugal

55:00

life was something which she was more than willing

55:02

to forgo for a while. So

55:06

the storm passed, and

55:08

everyone was happy. Aww.

55:11

Aww. Aww. Aww. Aww.

55:15

Aww. Aww. Aww.

55:18

Aww. Aww. Aww.

55:21

Aww. Aww. Aww.

55:24

Aww. Aww. Aww. Aww.

55:28

Aww. Aww. Aww.

55:31

The Story

55:48

So, four stories that ask us to extend

55:51

our ideas about nature and its impact on

55:53

us. Sometimes it's a thing

55:55

we try to make do our bidding. Sometimes

55:57

it's a backdrop to the ways in which the place

55:59

the places we start from and those we hope

56:01

to reach define us. And

56:04

sometimes it's a source of unexpected joy.

56:07

I'm Meg Wallitzer. Thanks for joining me for

56:09

Selected Shorts. Selected

56:20

Shorts is produced by Jennifer Brennan,

56:22

Jenny Falcon, and Sarah Montague. Our

56:25

team includes Matthew Love, Drew

56:28

Richardson, Mary Shimpkin, Vivienne Woodward,

56:30

and Magdalene Roblesky. The

56:33

readings are recorded by Miles B. Smith. Our

56:36

theme music is David Peterson's That's the

56:38

Deal, performed by the New York North

56:40

Peterson group. Selected

56:42

Shorts is supported by the Dungannon

56:44

Foundation. This program is also

56:46

made possible with public funds from the New

56:48

York State Council on the Arts with the support

56:51

of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New

56:53

York State Legislature. Selected

56:55

Shorts is produced and distributed by the New York