“Only one sweeter end can readily be recalled—the delicious death of an Ohio honey-hunter, who seeking honey in the crotch of a hollow tree, found such exceeding store of it, that leaning too far over, it sucked him in, so that he died embalmed. How many, think ye, have likewise fallen into Plato’s honey head, and sweetly perished there?”
—Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale
1: "Unprepared for Eternity"
Power lines rising out of the earth, wooden stalks infested with birds. The oppressive white on the ground crunches beneath my boots. Osa leads. She doesn’t wait for me when I trip over the muddied weeds. I call to her. Wait. She keeps going. The clouds roll in, thick and weighted as if bricked by charcoal. Edged at the corner of the sky is a small blush of morning light, feverish and puerile. That sign to yield goes unnoticed.
2: “I'm gonna be free! (I want to be free to run away)”
Daddy parks the car at the green light. Says he ain’t gonna drive nowhere until one of us tells the truth. I’m not gonna say nothing. He’s scarier when he’s quiet mad. He can outwait us longer like this. But I really ain’t gonna say nothing. Not about his missing money. Which I did not take. I don’t think Jules took it, neither, but I ain’t gonna ask. And she isn’t saying anything, either. She’s staring out the back window. Watching for a car to pull up behind us. Someone to honk. Someone to make Daddy go. The light turns red. We ain’t going nowhere. And no one says nothing.
3: “Green, green youth”
Julia knew she wasn’t supposed to take the shortcut home, because the shortcut wasn’t actually a shortcut, it was really a detour, and if she didn’t get home right when she was supposed to get home and be home, then surely she’d never hear the end of it. But there was that house. The one through the yellow-tinted fields. She liked to look in on that abandoned thing, knowing nobody and nothing was watching her back. The breeze brushed the back of her neck. She shivered.
4: “Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na”
“…four persons including two women were shot and killed on Kent State University’s campus today during renewed demonstrations involving hundreds of students the university was ordered closed as disorders continued for more than hours six other persons were reported shot in addition to those killed the four persons were killed during a clash between students and members of the Ohio National Guard outside Taylor Hall near the University Commons where an Army ROTC building was burned down Saturday night Brigadier General Robert Canterbury assistant adjutant general of Ohio said the fatal shootings occurred as a group of Guardsmen were moving back to the Commons after dispersing several hundred students with tear gas the order was given to return to the common General Canterbury said and as the troops moved out a crowd estimated at several hundred closed in and assaulted the Court guard force again…”
5: “On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903”
>Browse Ohio, 1903 Obituaries by Month
>February (1)
>>Talitha Frazier
>>>Article Text ■ : nth*: Fritref.’iNif ; < Aira.\ wfitHa’ Frazior, wldoxvloC’^oa» « ebh-Fmler/dled at hor home at JPalr-S todht; :fteMaska, January, 2$, 1608*^ aged 0$ years. Her .death foUow^^| paralytic stroke. Tho deceased ………“!P., jjorn 1 n HarriBon county, Ohio, Dap her 1, 1834, and was married “ eph Frazier at Mt Pleasant, ?thje ty, on April 21, 1857, SUo.liddjll tho Woat for 32 years,. :^he;‘ sJB was Burvtved by ono dat ‘ M,; oner son, – Lou , W„. e Fillmorer Chronicled one Spence, and ope sfater, Mra^< Martin, of Qplo,
6: “The Rag-Top Down”
Running in the rain, that feeling of freedom, tendered by mild terror of slipping—Osa racing ahead, knowing she should let Julia win, or at least not leave Julia so far behind—Osa slowing down, not enough for Julia to know she’s jogging on purpose—it’s not a fair win if you’re given it—Julia catching up, of course she’s crying, it’s not fair, she’s whining, you’re older, you’re faster—well, isn’t that the point—that streetlamp’s light milky in the darkness—Osa checking to make sure yes, she still has the key because no, nobody’s home to let them in—one car coming down the street, heading toward them, they’re still in the middle of the road—a game of chicken? Who will call the bluff?—the ragtop’s roof down, the driver waving, yelling, not angry, excited, thrilled by the navy of the night—Hey little girls! Girls! Wanna ride? Where you running to?—Osa taking Julia’s hand—faster, we gotta go faster, don’t stop, don’t look back—he drives on, they run on, and the night continues.
7: “Way to go, Ohio”
AN ALPHABETIZED, BASTARDIZED LIST OF BOOKS ABOUT OHIO
Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio.
Bennett, Jon. Reading Blue Devils: A Novel
McDaniel, Tiffany. The Summer That Melted Everything.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved.
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye.
Pollack, Donald Ray. The Devil All the Time.
Rot, Phillip. Indignation.
Valdez, Dolen-Perkins. Wench: A Novel.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Deadeye Dick.
Wallace, David Foster. The Broom of the System.
8: “On and On and On”
“You hear that? The crickets? They’re starting.”
“I don’t get why you gotta go so far. Can’t you just go to school here?”
“You’ll understand later. Why I gotta go. I’m sorry. If I could take you with me I would. It’ll be okay. You don’t got much longer. Then you can get out. Come visit me.”
“Please don’t go.”
“Listen, the music’s beginning. We can’t hear it if you’re crying like that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. We haven’t missed the music yet.”
9: “I want to wonder in the moonlight and meet my sweety in the moonlight”
The sky was gray, covered in clouds bloated with rain. Julia rolled over in the hay. She’d snuck boys into the barn before. She’d never done that, though, with a boy, not all the way. He kept asking her if it hurt. She told him no, but it did hurt, and he seemed to know it, because he went slow, and when it was all over, he kissed her on the forehead. The hay made her itch. There was moisture in the air, a certain dampness other than sweat. “Do you know what time it is?” Julia asked. The boy looked for his watch, somewhere in his jeans, which were somewhere in the barn. “Just before four,” he said. “Oh,” Julia said. “It looks like it’s already night. Look how dark it is.” And they looked. And it was very dark. They could see no lights, no stars, no moon through the clouds.
10: “Know the Reason Why!”
The sisters woke early on Easter. The older one shook the younger one. Up, she said. And up they got. Through the backdoor. Quietly, not stepping where the wood creaked. The father still sleeping. The mother always sleeping. The quiet rare. The morning was pink, soft and cool against their cheeks as the wind rushed. Weeds dancing. The sisters went down to the river. They saw no signs of any rabbits, let alone the Easter Bunny. They kept quiet. They looked out. The water still, no movement, not much sound. Though they thought they heard a song. Some distant drum beating. Voices carrying, whispers of a song, some anthem forgotten. The sisters were together. They squeezed each other’s hands. They watched the land that was their home beckon them, offering itself in its silent way.