Page 42 - WTP Vol. V #4

it her all; I’m belting my fourteen-year-old heart out. But carry a tune today? Sing with abandon? Surely my voice was shaky as my soul.
Once, in my noncommittal days, Lovebug said something to me on the phone that, for better or worse, was recorded for the ages: Take a chance.
I did back then, I took a chance. And, now, in my ho-hum, low-note mood I thought, what the hell, take another. So I sang.
“Unforgettable...”
Naturally, Lovebug’s reaction was buoyant. “You were great!”
Oh...
I was bad. Really bad. My ancient voice, rusty- wobbly-shot, embarrassing in front of anyone but Lovebug, made worse sounds than my first car, a ‘73 sky blue Pinto, would make if I tried to start it up today. But so what. It felt good to sing my guts out. Really good.
“Encore!”
Well, we missed out on good eats by Ginger, a sumptuous feast she’d whip up in the time it took to pour wine, and fireworks by Skip where under stars and sparks he’d slip in and out of view, an- nual images I capture like fireflies—is he thirty, is he sixty? Can’t tell from up here on the deck. One less collective Fourth of July for the memory books, folks.
Now autumn’s around the corner and I’m in the sunroom again, looking at a Harvard chair I’ll be looking at for the rest of my life. A woman my age still missing her dad seems like a very sad thing, but at least me and Lovebug ended the holiday on a high note.
Park is the award-winning author or co-author of literary novels, mem- oirs and children’s books including When My Sister Was Cleopatra Moon (Hyperion) and My Freedom Trip: A Child’s Escape from North Korea (Boyds Mills Press). Her short ction and essays have been published in dozens of magazines and newspapers such as USA Today.com, OZY Media, and The Massachusetts Review.
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Float (detail)
wire, rope, string, oxygen tubing, and tulle
7’ x 8’ x 5'
By Holly Wong