fwriction

I have read twice through Dzanc Books’ Best of the Web 2010 and found I cannot get enough of these stories (my favorite has already been a SoTD). So, this week, I’m dedicating Story of the Day to showcasing some of my favorites from the anthology. On this Labor Day, enjoy Sara Levine’s “Baby Love,” from Necessary Fiction:

Once home I handed my husband the baby. First I had the baby, and then I handed my husband the baby I had had. Can you follow me, time-wise?

“Everybody is having babies,” I said. “Ellen Webler in Starbucks told me. Johnny, it’s so weird. Like that time all the people we knew were down at one time with the flu.”

Johnny jiggled the baby. “What were you doing in Starbucks?”

“You’re not listening. All these people having babies, Johnny, and we didn’t even know. We hadn’t heard they had babies, too.”

“Remember when you bought a car and wanted to know, like an errand from God, how your Volkswagen measured up? Cars, trucks, hybrids, minivans! Even after we bought, you saw the world disproportionately as roadway, forgetting our city’s dependable, low-cost, environmentally sound though stinky means of public transportation.” Johnny smiled fondly. “People refine the world according to their present capacities.”