“Fragments and Pieces” by Alisa A. Gaston, issue #19
12/17/20: Into the Archives: staff member Taylor Croft on “Fragments and Pieces” by Alisa A. Gaston, issue #19
Prism has published many great authors and many great works of fiction and poetry. Just one of those many pieces is a short fictional story called “Fragments and Pieces,” written by Alisa A. Gaston. This story stuck out to me because of how relatable and impactful the story is. The characters all compliment each other in a sharp and well crafted dynamic. The tensions are relatable yet outstanding at times, yet are also set in quieter scenes that are just as impactful.
“Fragments and Pieces” boils down to a young narrator, Fay, watching her aunt and uncle’s relationship dissipate into a separation. This story beings with an unspoken event that caused a rift between the narrator’s aunt and uncle. It’s ambiguously inferred that this event had something to do with fertility. The narrator usually lives with her mother but is often taken to live with her aunt because of her mother’s alcohol addiction.
Uncle Cal is a strong character, as well. When he and Auntie are working on packing up their shared home after they decided to separate, readers get a glimpse into the relationship between him and Fay. While Fay is trying to disassemble their bed frame, she’s having trouble with the screws. When he walks in, he gives her the advice to push into the screws before trying to unscrew them. It’s only after he leaves the room that Fay tries out his advice. It works perfectly. Uncle Cal is the only developed male character in the story. I think this is meant to emphasize his impact on the narrator. Fay sees him as a father figure just as much as her auntie is a motherly presence in her life.
Flashbacks within the story illustrate the strength of the narrator’s aunt, referred to as Auntie. She’s qualified for a higher paying job, but she chooses to work at a kennel because she loves working with animals. She’s the only person that stood up to her sister’s threats and near violence and poured out the alcohol that Fay’s mother was all too addicted to. Auntie regularly cares for Fay, often taking her from her mother when the home life is becoming too toxic or dangerous. Fay sees her auntie as more of a mother than her actual biological one.
Flashbacks also allow readers to see the kind of relationship the aunt and uncle had in the past. During family events, Fay used to be their messenger, running between the noisy and crowded living room to pass comments between the two such as, “Tell your auntie she needs to shave her legs,” and “Tell your uncle he needs a shower.” Fay reflects on moments like these, enjoying being apart of their laughing or their relationship.
This story also has beautiful moments of language and description. One particular moment that I love is how the narrator describes Auntie’s hugs, “Auntie always holds on with her hands pressed firm and flat on my back, forcing me in, and squeezing me tight.” Another moment is when the four were visiting Zion National Park, and two horses ran in front of their cars. Fay and her mother managed to dodge the horse in their vehicle, but the Uncle and Auntie weren’t so lucky, “It was a colt. Its body was curled in a way I never imagined a body could curl.…Clumps of black mane and tail hair stuck to the splashes of blood on the pavement,” These reflective and beautifully written moments lean into the characters, creating the impact of the sadness in watching this family’s life unfold.
The story ends with Fay’s sad scenic moment and her auntie driving Fay back to her mother after they were all finished with moving everything out of the uncle and auntie’s house. Fay is overwhelmed with emotion as she realizes she doesn’t want to go back to her mother and wants to leave with her auntie. When they get to the mother’s apartment complex, Fay runs out of the car, causing her auntie to chase her. When she finally catches Fay, it’s revealed that they both want to stay together because she views Fay as her child. The story leaves the reader with the inference that they were going to go tell Fay’s mother. The ambiguity of the significant points in the story is why I feel this was a strong and impactful story and why it was my favorite out of this issue.
