Kathy Fish
1. THE DISPATCHExcerpt from Taoism
“Let reality be reality.”*
In period 3 World Religions Father Riley orders you to stand. He asks if you’ve misplaced your hairbrush. He says you look like a horse. Everyone laughs.
He smokes and drinks and says “shit” and “goddamn.” He is the school’s Spiritual Development Director. He is the cool priest.
Your boyfriend is his favorite and you suspect this is why he hates you. The two of them go for walks in the woods behind the school for Prayer & Contemplation.
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”*
Your mother’s boyfriend Lance has moved in and is unemployed. Your parents are not yet divorced. Your father sleeps in the basement.
He wants everyone to pretend he’s not sleeping in the basement but is instead in New Jersey because he’s trying to manifest his vision of living in New Jersey.
When you go down to get your socks out of the dryer he’s lying on his cot in his boxer shorts, facing the wall.
In period 3 World Religions you’re learning about Taoism. According to Lao Tzu, happiness would be yours if you’d simply empty your mind.
“Silence is a source of Great Strength.”*
Lance cooks and cleans and bakes casseroles containing peas which you cannot abide. He talks about the things that don’t sit well with him:
Although he accepts it, the presence of your father in the basement doesn’t sit well with him.
Your mother having to work two jobs doesn’t sit well with him.
And your boyfriend’s upcoming camping trip with the cool priest doesn’t sit well with him.
Lance scans your face, asks if you’re on the Pill yet.
“Act without expectation.”*
You write notes to your sad, undignified father, tucking them under the plates of food Lance has you take down to him.
hey to you in Jersey… I’m worried… I need you… come back
*Lao Tzu, from the Tao Te Ching
2. BUREAU INVENTORYTrusty Contigo water bottle
My laptop with draft of Taoism on the screen
Spiral notebook
Books galore
Framed photos of friends and family
3. BIOGRAPHYKathy Fish’s stories have been widely published in journals, anthologies, and textbooks. Her work has appeared most recently in Ploughshares, Copper Nickel, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Washington Square Review, the Norton Reader, and four volumes of Best Small Fictions. Additionally, she has stories forthcoming in Wigleaf and Norton’s Flash Fiction America (2023). She has published five short fiction collections and teaches a variety of creative writing classes in her own online workshops. She also publishes a popular monthly craft newsletter.
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