One Great Short Story To Read Today: Madeline Ffitch’s “seeing Through Maps”

According to nan powers that beryllium (er, apparently according to Dan Wickett of nan Emerging Writers Network), May is Short Story Month. To celebrate, for the third twelvemonth successful a row, nan Literary Hub unit will beryllium recommending a azygous short story, free* to publication online, each (work) time of nan month. Why not publication on pinch us? Today, we recommend:

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“Seeing Through Maps” by madeline Ffitch

I will urge madeline Ffitch to anyone who will listen: her prose is lyric and muscular without being showy, her characters are truthful instantly live they look to person conscionable wandered retired of nan world and into a book, and, astir importantly, she has a uncommon talent for slantwise weirdness that doesn’t get successful nan measurement of page-turning plot—if you haven’t publication her first novel, Stay and Fight, you should.

In nan meantime, though, ffitch’s communicative “Seeing Through Maps,” successful nan June 2023 rumor of Harper’s, is simply a cleanable preamble to her peculiar world of agrarian eccentrics and nan lives they (try to) build astatine nan edges of modern capitalism. It is, mainly, nan communicative of a matrimony and its aftermath, of ruins overgrown but not rather forgotten, and of memories that pain wrong moreover arsenic they springiness disconnected nary heat.

The communicative begins:

I was splitting wood astatine sunset erstwhile nan feline jumped up connected nan chopping artifact successful beforehand of me, arched her back, and took a agelong piss. My axe hung successful nan sky. The feline stared astatine me, tail up. I put my axe down and squatted earlier her. I hitched my gown to my waist. I sent my ain watercourse into nan brownish leaves. The feline narrowed and widened her yellowish eyes astatine me, which is what cats do because they can’t blink. Our eyes locked arsenic we added our nitrogen to nan landmass. She collapsed first, streaking backmost into nan woods. I’ve ne'er seen a feline piss aliases shit, not erstwhile they are retired of their resentful kittenhood. Cats are backstage astir specified things. I person kept cats each my life. I opportunity kept because my neighbour successful these woods reminds maine that nary 1 tin ain a cat, not really. He says I should beryllium much observant astir language. He says that words person power. My dream each time is that he will time off maine successful peace.

I swung my axe, trying to hit nan dusk. I americium peculiar astir firewood. Sometimes firewood tin consciousness for illustration my whole life.

Tulip poplar wants to pain but it doesn’t springiness disconnected overmuch heat. I usage it for kindling. It splits for illustration a woody xylophone. Listen for that muffled bell toll.

White elm is scarce now and reddish elm leaves down clinkers. It will do. Across nan grain, it’s a rich | colour without being ornate, which immoderate group appreciate.

Hickory rots astatine nan halfway truthful you tin divided it successful a circle, for illustration unmaking a barrel.

If it’s summertime and you’re cutting unrecorded trees, you’re screwed. You’ll beryllium burning greenish wood each winter. All those agelong acheronian days your wood will spit astatine you, garbage to catch, request changeless tending, fume you retired of your spot without keeping you warm, and that’s not nan worst of it. The worst of it is that greenish wood will build up creosote successful your chimney, and your chimney will drawback fire, and nan occurrence will dispersed to your house, and your location will pain down and what will you do then.

My neighbour successful these woods has already split, seasoned, and stacked each nan wood he will pain this year. He did this past outpouring astatine nan first thaw, arsenic he has done each outpouring for nan past 20 years. I don’t trim unrecorded trees anymore. When I request to lukewarm myself, I look for opinionated dead. All winter, I enactment 1 occurrence up of nan cold. I’ve ne'er been bully astatine planning. I don’t cognize what’s going to hap and I don’t cognize why. I am, however, curious.

Read it here.