Sunday, March 24, 2013

Sunday Sentence: "Running Alone" by Halimah Marcus


Simply put, the best sentence(s) I've read this past week, presented to you out of context and without commentary.




      The mass is not benign.  It is a stage three malignant tumor in her left breast, and it has spread to her lymph nodes.  Treatment is an accelerated course of chemotherapy and then a single mastectomy.  Worst-case scenario: she is dead within the year.
      Her husband Albert is with her during the second appointment when she gets the news, and he looks when he hears it as if the soles of his feet have fallen off, and that the contents of his body--bones, muscle, blood, and sinew--are spilling out through his feet, like the drain at the bottom of a bathtub.
 
"Running Alone" by Halimah Marcus
One Story, Issue #176


4 comments:

  1. Which of these FIVE sentences is "the best" exactly?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Primarily the last one, but I wanted to include the others as set-up. I'm giving myself some latitude in this series to go slightly beyond the borders of just one sentence, if the art calls for it--which, in this case, I think it did.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Holy cow! That certainly paints the picture, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great selection. Really enjoyed the story by Halimah Marcus.

    ReplyDelete