I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 17, 2024] “You Again”

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 Seth Fried.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  And this one begins:

It’s December 17. Seth Fried, author of The Municipalists, left his tap shoes in the car.

This was a fun, really short story.  Felix has died and right after he dies he reappears as himself at a party some thirty years earlier.  The night he met his wife.

He had always regretted the way that they had met (he looked very foolish) and he imagined how he could have made it better.  But he learns that his plan for looking more interesting when he meets her doesn’t improve his status with her.

What was interesting about the story is that he basically relives his life from that point, and he does still get married.  But everything about his life together is different.