by | January 17, 2011 · 8:43 pm
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Linens by Guy Yasko

I like my pillowcases and sheets. The colours are like mustard and
ketchup. The animals are friendly. The seal balances a beach ball on its
nose. The lion is smiling. He waits for orders. The giraffes and
elephants march side by side. The ringmaster’s whip stays on the
ground. Everything is in the right place.

Larry has the same sheets, but i don’t get the same feeling. His room
is sunny. He has the best dad ever. It’s different at my house.

.

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12 Comments

Filed under Guy Yasko

12 responses to “Linens by Guy Yasko”

  1. Fred Osuna
    January 21, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    You hooked me immediately with this, Guy. I’m sure I had bedsheets similar to these when I was a kid, though they were probably fish or Peanuts characters, not circus animals. Those memories always seem to stick, don’t they?

    But what a change in the second section! I sat here thinking about the back story for several minutes. It hints at something horrific.

    Reply
    • guy
      January 22, 2011 at 11:27 am

      Oh yeah, had them all: Peanuts, Flintstones, & the generic, cheery kiddy sheets. They were the kind of thing we got for Christmas. We were slightly embarassed by them — except my HS girlfriend who had Jetsons sheets at a rather late age. I imagine these sorts of things fetching high prices on ebay.

      Thanks for the read & the comment, Fred.

      Reply
  2. Len Kuntz
    January 22, 2011 at 8:22 pm

    this is a great little stick of dynamite with your ending. well done, guy.

    Reply
  3. Robert Vaughan
    January 23, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    You never cease to amaze me with your use of white space, Guy. I know I’ve said it before, but in this little tome especially. My gosh. Sheets. Sheesh. Linen. The relationship explored here, and the leap between the two paragraphs. I wonder if your Japanese film writing (and dialogue) has inferred your economical, spare fiction?

    Reply
  4. Claire King
    January 23, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    A real flash – a perfect image and then just a hint at the significance of it all. Really enjoyed this.

    Reply
  5. ganymeder
    January 23, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    Envying the other kid’s sheets. Ah, childhood…

    Reply
  6. Rita
    January 26, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    It’s so surrealistic, as though it was written by a little boy. Clearly gives you a good look inside of the boy’s mind. And it has a taste – of mustard and ketchup – that stays with the reader after the story is over. And, of course, the painful feeling that someone else have something you are missing in your life very much – a father you can be proud of. I can identify with that…

    Reply
  7. guy
    January 26, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    Thanks Rita, ganymeder & Claire. Glad you liked it.

    Reply
  8. LindaSW
    January 27, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    This leaves a hole in my chest. Standing O, Guy. Peace…

    Reply

  9. Pingback: Week #26 – Animal behavior | 52|250 A Year of Flash

  10. timeout2
    February 6, 2011 at 10:04 am

    I can’t believe that the ringmaster’s whip was a throw-away line – especially since you had so few lines. Balance, orders, march, whip — I think I’d rather live in Larry’s house. Doris

    Reply

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