A troubled preamble to a tale about location
Once upon a time there was a country.
No.
Once upon a time here were TWO countries.
No.
Once upon a time there was a land.
You mean a piece of land?
No.
I mean like a country but not a nation.
Did it have a flag?
No.
Did it have an army?
Sometimes.
Did it have a king?
Perhaps.
I don’t understand.
Me neither.
I’m trying to tell a story here.
But who should tell it?
I should!
No, I should.
No – a third person should.
But you’re not even FROM here.
That’s why.
Why what?
Why I should tell it. Because I’ll be objective.
No you won’t.
Well YOU won’t be objective either.
Personally I don’t believe in objectivity.
That’s a typical excuse.
Typical of what.
Typical of the kind of person you are.
Look who’s talking!
But seriously, once upon a time there was a land
Sigh.
Here we go again with this fairy story.
Do you have a better idea?
No.
No.
Then listen.

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Published by Stephanie Barbé Hammer
Stephanie Barbé Hammer is a magical realist prose fiction writer, novelist, occasional essayist, and a committed, intermittent poet, as well as a passionate instructor of writing. A 7-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize she has published work in Hayden's Ferry, Pearl, CRATE, Rhapsoidia, NYCBigCityLit, the East Jasmine Review, Apeiron, Inlandia, Literary Alchemy and the Bellevue Literary Review among other places. She is the author the fabulist novel THE PUPPET TURNERS OF NARROW INTERIOR (Urban Farmhouse Press), a novelette, RESCUE PLAN (Bamboo Dart Press), a prose poem chapbook collection, SEX WITH BUILDINGS (dancing girl press), and a poetry collection, HOW FORMAL (Spout Hill Press).
Stephanie's new novel PRETEND PLUMBER is available for order from your favorite bookstore, and her poetry chapbook CITY SLICKER appeared in July 2022. Stay tuned for her novella, JOURNEY TO MERVEILLEUX CITY, coming out in 2023!
View all posts by Stephanie Barbé Hammer
A writer’s internal monologue while approaching a story? Sounds like what happens in my brain.
Actually, this IS the story…. 🙂