Sunday Short: Girl in Red by Allyson Armistead

And then there’s the before-and-after problem with erasing Dad’s identity: the whole space-time continuum glitch, where even though he’s faded in our furniture and walls and talk and clothes and hair, he’s like the echo of a piano key—a sound that stays in my ear even though the key was struck some time ago.

 I have really mixed feelings on this piece by Allyson Armistead. She's doubtlessly a talented writer (I mean, some of the imagery here is sublime); however, like all good short fiction it treads a fine line, weighed down by the holistic body insecurity of a teenage girl and the rather taut, inappropriate relationship she has with her mother's boyfriend and even with her own father. That said, Allyson captures so much of the discomfort in a girl's budding sexuality and that jerk of loss that comes with a freshly broken home.

You can read Girl in Red over on the Narrative Magazine's website.