March Fiction

[ann_leckie]

It's March 1! Which has always made a much better candidate for the First Day of Spring than the equinox, in my mind. Let's not even talk about the (IMO relatively recent) silliness of calling the solstices the first day of the seasons they are, in fact, the middle of. (There's a reason the traditional names for those two days are "midsummer" and "midwinter," people!)

Anyway. Enough of me getting my early morning crochety on. It's the calends of March. But I can't make any of the couple of Roman feasts--one to Juno, one to Mars, it's Ancient Roman New Year, and time to rekindle the fire in the temple of Vesta, if you were curious--seem like they have some sort of thematic connection to this month's story. Not enough coffee, probably.

So. This month's story! Is "Tattooed Love Boys" by Alex Jeffers.

The guy (his name sounded like Raf) asked how old Theo was—seventeen—and suggested she bring him in. Raf looked only a few years older than Theo. Emma liked the little blue-black glyph inked on the concave bone of his left temple between hairline and eyebrow. She thought it was meant to evoke a bird’s wing. But then Raf turned to change the CD and the tattoos on his shoulder and back, what wasn’t covered by his wifebeater, disappointed her. Koi fish, lotus blossoms, a whiskered Asian dragon—boring. As cliché as the horned skulls and flames and roses Theo dreamed about.

But when Raf returned his attention to her Emma decided he was good looking so she asked how he’d known to speak English. “You speak it very well,” she added. She wanted a moment to contemplate the image that had just come to her of Raf kissing her big brother, caressing Theo’s shoulder and arm. Raf’s long fingers left strokes of color on Theo’s skin, fire-breathing skulls, schools of glistening koi.

“You have the American look,” Raf said.

Emma didn’t believe he meant to sound condescending.

Read! Enjoy! Happy Ancient Roman New Year!

Comments

[marycatelli]

Happy spring!