{"id":2600,"date":"2023-07-21T13:22:05","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T17:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/?page_id=2600"},"modified":"2023-07-21T13:22:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T17:22:05","slug":"paper-covers-rock","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/?page_id=2600","title":{"rendered":"Paper Covers Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Michael McIntyre<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issue 16<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Flash Fiction<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am sitting in a folding chair before the altar steps and watching as people enter the back doors of the church. Tradition dictates that I stand, but I feel as if my legs might buckle under the strain. I\u2019d sit in the front pew, but I don\u2019t want to stray too far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can see the puzzlement, doubt, and accusations in their faces when they notice the odd scene at the front of the church. My in-laws use the words \u201cblasphemous\u201d and \u201cobscene.\u201d They still blame me for having the indecency to survive the car accident that took their Marjorie\u2019s life two years ago.\u00a0I thought then that I would never know worse pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to buy a 1000-foot roll of paper from The Office Store, and its matte brown look clashes with the clean, white marble altar and the stained glass windows depicting the Stations of the Cross. Not sure what I\u2019ll do with the roughly 994 feet left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn\u2019t matter what any of them think, they don\u2019t know what I\u2019m\u2014they simply don\u2019t know. This is the only way I can get through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were at a family picnic only three years ago. Marjorie was sitting and eating a ramekin full of her homemade banana pudding while Josh and I played a child\u2019s game. He turned to me with that tilt to his head he got whenever he had a question for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t paper cover scissors like it covers rock?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause those aren\u2019t the rules. Everything is balanced with this game. All the objects have a weakness, something that can neutralize them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNeutralize. Hmmm, it means to make something ineffective, to cancel out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCancel out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh\u2019s face got that sly smile that appeared when he\u2019d thought his way around a corner. \u201cBut what if the sheet of paper was big and thin? Then rock could blast right through the paper. Rock beats paper. Nothing beats rock!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That set me off laughing. He could always break me up with his unfailing logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess so, son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I covered him. I completely covered his too small coffin with paper and taped it down for tensile strength. If I can\u2019t see him, he isn\u2019t dead. I don\u2019t want to see the starved drawn look that cancer painted over my boy\u2019s face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I don\u2019t have to see him in that coffin, I can say he is sleeping. He is either asleep in his bed, or on that green field and we\u2019re still playing Rock Paper Scissors. There could be that much magic in the world. He is only napping under a huge sheet of paper, and any second now he will come crashing through and shout, \u201cNothing Beats Rock!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any second now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any second now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any second\u2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u200b\u200bMichael McIntyre<\/strong> is a life-long resident of the Charleston area, and has a bachelors degree from the University of South Carolina Beaufort. He got his start writing songs then transitioned into fiction, non-fiction, plays, comics, and poetry. He has had pieces published in The Pen<\/em>, Humanitas<\/em>, and Charleston’s Free Time<\/em>. He currently lives in downtown Charleston with his wife, Amy, and their Australian Shepherds, Bruce and Bowie, named after Springsteen and David, respectively.<\/summary>\n

<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Read “The Necklace<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Read “A Great Painter<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Read “Whispers<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael McIntyre Issue 16 Flash Fiction I am sitting in a folding chair before the altar steps and watching as people enter the back doors of the church. Tradition dictates that I stand, but I feel as if my legs might buckle under the strain. I\u2019d sit in the front pew, but I don\u2019t want to stray too far. I can see the puzzlement, doubt, and accusations in their faces when they notice the odd scene at the front of the church. My in-laws use the words \u201cblasphemous\u201d and \u201cobscene.\u201d They still blame me for having the indecency to survive the car accident that took their Marjorie\u2019s life two years ago.\u00a0I thought then that I would never know worse pain. I had to buy a 1000-foot roll of paper from The Office Store, and its matte brown look clashes with the clean, white marble altar and the stained glass windows depicting the Stations of the Cross. Not sure what I\u2019ll do with the roughly 994 feet left. It doesn\u2019t matter what any of them think, they don\u2019t know what I\u2019m\u2014they simply don\u2019t know. This is the only way I can get through. .. We were at a family picnic only three years ago. Marjorie was sitting and eating a ramekin full of her homemade banana pudding while Josh and I played a child\u2019s game. He turned to me with that tilt to his head he got whenever he had a question for me. \u201cWhy can\u2019t paper cover scissors like it covers rock?\u201d \u201cBecause those aren\u2019t the rules. Everything is balanced with this game. All the objects have a weakness, something that can neutralize them.\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s that mean?\u201d \u201cNeutralize. Hmmm, it means to make something ineffective, to cancel out.\u201d \u201cCancel out.\u201d Josh\u2019s face got that sly smile that appeared when he\u2019d thought his way around a corner. \u201cBut what if the sheet of paper was big and thin? Then rock could blast right through the paper. Rock beats paper. Nothing beats rock!\u201d That set me off laughing. He could always break me up with his unfailing logic. \u201cI guess so, son.\u201d .. So, I covered him. I completely covered his too small coffin with paper and taped it down for tensile strength. If I can\u2019t see him, he isn\u2019t dead. I don\u2019t want to see the starved drawn look that cancer painted over my boy\u2019s face. If I don\u2019t have to see him in that coffin, I can say he is sleeping. He is either asleep in his bed, or on that green field and we\u2019re still playing Rock Paper Scissors. There could be that much magic in the world. He is only napping under a huge sheet of paper, and any second now he will come crashing through and shout, \u201cNothing Beats Rock!\u201d  Any second now.  Any second now.  Any second\u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2600","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2600\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}