Sunday Shorts #4

Photo credit: the bbp / Foter / CC BY 

It has been awhile since I have done a Sunday Short and I miss it.  A short story is a bittersweet for me.  Part of me is happy that I can complete the story in such of small time frame.  But another part of me wants to draw it out, wants to know the characters and their motivation more.

I am still reading shorts from 16 Bars:  A Short Story Mixtape by Ran Walker.  I just realized that there is one more story and then I will be done with 16 Bars... I already miss it.

Description (GoodReads):

Ran Walker's first "short story mixtape" pulls together a varied collection of stories about black men and how they are shaped by the relationships they enter. With topics ranging from break-ups to awkward first dates, 16 Bars is a bold, unflinching, and even humorous take on what goes on in the minds of black men when romance enters the picture.

Dancing in My Dreams:  

Dancing in my Dreams shows what Kyle is willing to go through to keep love alive.

This was a powerful story.  Not that the writing was any different than that of the previous stories but because of what Kyle was willing to deal with to be with Serena.  I know there was going to an unexpected twist but I didn't think it was going to be that.  Walker through me for a loop with that one, but I have to applaud him on making Kyle such a stand up guy.

One of the things that I enjoy most about each of the stories in 16 Bars is that each story has a theme song.  I have been familiar with most (if not all the songs) but Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire" was the prefect theme song for this story.

I didn't really care for the end.  It was a nice pretty bow type ending (even though it wasn't happy).

My favorite Quote:

... from there our relationship disintegrated  and our love, once a ripe fruit bubbling with the sweetest nectar I had ever tasted, withered slowly on the vine from neglect.  (Kindle Version: Location 717)

I know it is said but it is beautiful.