God wrote a book. Not that book; what god would write only one book? The main character is a boy who offers his saved allowance for a special operation his mother wants. The father takes to making compost like nothing else matters, and the mother watches a lawn sprinkler measure out the days.

Of course the book has many subplots—one of them involving a small man who collects bullet-proof vests. He buys them in increasingly larger sizes so he can wear them all at once. Then he sits on a curb in a dangerous part of town and flashes a middle finger at all who pass by. In another a man bursts into a room and says, “Why you ain’t wern no pannies?”

Then there are many things roughly marked through, and the last page is blank. But the wrinkles make it look like something behind it all is about to tear through.

Daryl Scroggins

has taught creative writing and literature at The University of Texas at Dallas, The University of North Texas, and the Writer’s Garret, in Dallas. He now lives in Marfa, Texas. He is the author of This Is Not the Way We Came In, a collection of flash fiction and a flash novel (Ravenna Press), Winter Investments: Stories (Trilobite Press), and Prairie Shapes: A Flash Novel (winner of the 2004 Robert J. DeMott Prose Contest). His poems, short stories, and creative nonfictions have appeared in magazines and anthologies across the country, including Blink Ink, Cutbank, Eastern Iowa Review, New Flash Fiction Review, Star 82 Review, and Third Wednesday, among others.

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