Friday, August 5, 2011

'Purchasing Short Story Compilations'

I was dropping off some secondhand goods to a local charity shop when I came across a box full of short stories including some on CD. I picked it up, took a glance at the marketing lingo and scanned for the price. $4.99 what a bargain! Well it wasn't till I got in my car that I realised that they were short stories for truckers and travellers.

I ripped off the plastic cover and proceeded to place a CD in my in-car player. Interestingly enough they weren't too bad but my son was in the car and he commented that they were c---p! Well I didn't think they that boring but he certainly did. The silence in the car was deafening as we rolled along to the male voice reciting the adventures of a cockroach. It was almost unbearable to my son but I thought it was a great medium for short stories.

After I got home I thought I would have a look at the four anthologies inside the box and came across a wonderful story about a mother's frustration with her young son. A journey to her parents turned out to be an attempt to amuse her son whilst driving across town.

Doesn't sound so interesting but it was written from the mother's point of view as she answers her annoying son's continuous questions. She tries the game eye spy and she tries to tell him to sit down, stop moving about in the car; leave his sister alone and many more funny answers to a very energetic mind.
I laughed till I cried and I could completely relate to trips in the car with young children.

Finally I was able to get my son to laugh as I read it (through my tears) out loud to him.
The moral to this story: Somethings are not always what they seem! My $4.99 was worth it just for that short story alone.

So to give credit where credit is due, the author is Marica Salpietro: Are We There Yet? was printed in the collection called Slippery When Wet: published by Australian Roadside Services in 2002.

No comments:

Post a Comment