Tag: Fiction
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One for science: nothing more, nothing less
Erin Duralde Palo Alto, California, USA On an ordinary day, just a routine checkup, Ruth’s left breast spoke up for the first time. Under the stiff press of the mammography machine, after 83 years of content silence, it cleared its throat and announced that today was the first day of its starring role in…
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The flutter of an aching heart
Hugh Silk Massachusetts, Worcester, USA Entangled Anjali Dhurandar, Pencil 8” x 10” “Hi, Kate. Good to see you. How are you?” “I’m nervous, doc, so please tell me everything right away.” Her eyes were focused intensely on mine. It was clear my small talk and pleasantries were unwanted, even before I shut the exam…
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Our father who art on Earth, still
Peter Sullivan Rochester, New York, United States She didn’t like the way he just stood there, staring. First it was at the sink, looking out the window, holding a just-lathered dish midair with the water running. Then later in the evening he’d sat in the LazyBoy, which faced the living room TV. From time…
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Five minutes to midnight
Dean Gianakos Virginia, United States Photography by Stefania Slenzio Five minutes early for his appointment, I met Dr. Ivan Minski at the weigh station. He was dressed in a sharp, blue suit and narrow tie. White hair graced his head, eyebrows, and even his ears, though his stooped shoulders prevented me from getting a…
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The company of butchers
John Graham-Pole Antigonish, Canada It’s 5am. I peer through fast-revolving doors and eye the light skim of snowfall. I’m aware of a deep shiver. It’s the breeze flapping my skimpy white coat, right? Don’t kid yourself, rank fear is what this is. This is my first 24-hour stint as a surgical dresser. This allegedly…
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A fine notion
Ruth Z. DemingWillow Grove, Pennsylvania, USA Think of the worst disease imaginable. That’s what I’ve got. ALS, Lou Gehrig’s. One of 30,000 Americans. Me, a chaired professor of law at Temple University. Maple Oaks has a good reputation. I signed the reams of papers to get in. But, damn, it takes a long time for…
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The cutting edge
Richard Spicer Bristol, England Photography by Keith Williamson The baby was going to be fine. The tumor was now in the lab, the blood loss was minimal, and it was now time to close the chest. Closing time always introduced a change of mood; everyone relaxed, and the conversation even became light-hearted. His registrar,1…
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The Gone-A-Gram
Joel L. Chinitz Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pennsylvania, United States “Have I got this right? When you . . . eh . . . reach eighty points . . . you’re gone.” “Yes sir. That’s right.” “But if you have seventy-nine . . . you’re still here.” Harry Crenshaw looked into the faces…
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The truth in facts is a derelict ruin: Forging a self through fiction
Sara BakerAthens, Georgia, United States In his June 2, 2014 New Yorker article Inheritance,1 Ian Parker explores the connection between British novelist Edward St. Aubyn’s early traumatic life and his fiction. When we think of healing through writing, we usually think first of memoir and then perhaps of lyric poetry. Yet fiction offers advantages that…