I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 15, 2024] “Down Burned Road”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Jacqueline Baker.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 15. Jacqueline Baker, author of The Broken Hours, has officially given up on Google Maps.

I’m not sure what it is about a story that makes me simply not enjoy it.  And I know it’s the case when it takes me a few days to finish even a short story.

I was intrigued by the beginning–a house so far down a long deserted road that most people turn around long before they actually get there.

I guess I don’t really like stories about women in relationships where the man is strong and silent (or abusive depending on your definition).  Yurig does not want her to put a marker on the road to indicate where to turn for their house.  She had painted their names on a rock, but ultimately turned it over for fear of what he would say.

The way they met is also less than stellar–outside of a bar to which he was delivering his locally butchered meats.

Yurig doesn’t trust anyone who doesn’t kill their own food (he thoroughly distrusts vegetarians).  And he dismissed the new neighbor’s car as a “woman’s car.”

Things come to a head, but I found the ending very unsatisfying and it took a long time for me to read it.