fwriction

Tobias Wolff is my current obsession, and thus, Story of the Day. This piece, “Awake,” was published in The New Yorker in the summer of 2008:

“He settled back against the pillow. He closed his eyes, but just then Ana made a little snort and moved beside him, giving off a fresh wave of warmth, and, faintly, that sweet warm bed-smell of hers, like baking bread, and he lay there tensed, waiting, but she didn’t move again. He heard the clock tick, his own breath returning, jagged and raspy.”