February 7 - "La Pena"

“La Pena”
by Deb Olin Unferth
Minor Robberies (2007)

* * * (Good) Realistic

A couple on vacation in South America takes a pilgrimage to a remote holy site, La Pena, on the top of a distant mountain. Spiritual guides, tiny, tiny men with toys, and a long climb up the mountain lead the couple to what they were seeking.

This story would have to fall into the category of “flash” fiction. Whereas sudden fiction is a story of a few pages, flash fiction is a complete story told within a page or two. It is an amazing thing; that a story – a unique and original idea – can be told in an instant. These are the stories of conversation – the lies we spin or tales we tell when we share with one another.

This entire collection by Unferth is an example of these brief snippets into the lives of characters and situations we might meet each time we decide to spend a moment conversing with friends and strangers. And I, for one, am anxious to get to know Unferth a bit better through these flashes.