Country Bookshelf Reader: Bozeman Writers

Country Bookshelf Reader

I’m pleased that my contemporary young adult short story Jewels, set in New York City, is included in this anthology of work by Bozeman-area authors. The anthology, published by Bangtail Press, is available exclusively at Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Montana.

Here’s an excerpt from Jewels:

Wren pulls on a knee-high and slips her right foot into the shoe. The leather glows; her foot is dainty. A princess foot. She slips on the left. She steps away from Violet, away from the saleswoman, walks across the floor to the mirror, where only her feet appear, her torso sliced off at mid-thigh.

Her feet, in those emerald skins, could walk right out of the store and no one would know it was her. They might think, that’s Violet’s BFF. That’s Violet.

“I’ll take them,” she hears Violet say. Wren turns. Smiling, Violet leans toward the saleswoman and hands over a credit card. Wren purses her lips.

She slips off the shoes and tucks them back into their box. “Not quite right.”

Violet yanks her arm. “Oh, come on! We’ll be twins!” Violet grabs Wren’s purse and digs for her wallet. “She wants them.” Vi turns to Wren, lowering her voice, chanting, sonorous, “You want them.”

Wren lifts one shoulder and says, “Okay.” She takes the wallet from Violet and fishes out her card, placing it flat in the saleswoman’s palm. Wren feels hot, then cold, as her card slides through the reader.

Violet moves off, examining one pair of shoes after another. The saleswoman flips the tissue over the shoes, snaps the top down.

Wren edges over to Violet. “So, hey.” She takes Violet’s sleeve between the outermost edge of thumb and forefinger. “Tonight, then. We can wear them. The shoes. Be twins.”

Violet shrugs, plopping a shoe back onto the table. “Whatever.”

Available for purchase at Country Bookshelf