SciFi and More from Duane Simolke

The following excerpt is from “Paying the Rent,” a story in my book The Acorn Stories, copyright 1998, 2003. Read reviews of the book at Kirkus, Amazon.Com, bn.com (2nd edition reviews), and bn.com (1st edition). The narrator of this story isn't likable.

I couldn’t help but notice how fat Lisa had become. She looked like one of those women who see themselves as big-boned, full-figured, girthful, well-rounded, plump—the kind who get blind dates as someone with “a nice personality.” She barely resembled her former self. Sure, she had always carried a wide load in the back, and her face retained baby fat all the way through twelfth grade, but I expected more—or rather, less—when, after a seven-year disappearance, she called to say “Guess who?” I still loved her bright blue eyes and bouncy blonde curls, but the rest of her looked like something created in a misshapen Jell-O mold.