Assistant Editor Kate Jayroe: Voice-driven, whimsical fiction is my “first love” when it comes to the micro flash form. Budman immediately establishes the off-kilter logic of “Lake Effect” then takes the reader for a zany and unexpected ride. In this contemporary retelling of an ancient story, the mysteries of life have never been so warm and inviting.
Listen to Budman read the piece:
Lake Effect
Jonah watches a young woman walk by as he sits on the bench overlooking the deepest lake in his part of the world. She holds a phone in her slim hand. A tattooed dragon slithers from her elbow to her wrist. She’s in Jonah’s field of hearing, until she leaves it, for about a minute. Within this time, she says “like” twelve times. Five seconds of speech between each “like.”
Since he wasn’t born here, Jonah prides himself on his English skills. But those likes puzzle him. She is “like” talking, which means she’s not really talking but is doing something that resembles the process of talking. What’s wrong with her? Or maybe what’s wrong with him? Is he falling behind? It’s a mystery.
A flock of geese traverses the lake from one grass-covered bank to the other. Jonah sees new hatchlings every year, but he’s never seen a senior goose dead. This lake is ancient. A few geese should have died by now. Do they have a hearse service to remove them? Or maybe there is a monster living on the bottom of the lake who takes care of them? Another mystery.
The woman is gone now and Jonah is all alone again. If he were to die here, on this very bench, would someone human remove him? Jonah imagines an epitaph on his tombstone: “He sat on the bench. He died and was carried away.”
He prefers happier stories: “The girl and the boy loved each other. They got married. The end.” But the happy stories don’t last long.
A dragon emerges from the lake. It’s more cute than scary: green scales gleaming in the sun, elongated eyes, polished teeth. It, like, swallows Jonah whole. The dragon’s tummy is roomy and lit by eternal flames. It smells a bit fishy in there, but Jonah doesn’t mind. If the dragon regurgitated him, that would be fine. If not, that would be fine too.
Jonah sits on a bench in the dragon’s stomach, watching a large flock of senior but friendly geese eating alfalfa. They honk. At first, like, he doesn’t understand their language, but he learns fast. Soon he’s honking at them and they at him. They like each other. He likes to be alive. He’s happy to solve one of life’s mysteries.
If the dragon were to swallow the young woman too, Jonah would perhaps solve another, like, mystery.
Mark Budman is a refugee who learned English as an adult. His books include My Life at First Try, (Counterpoint Press, 2008), An Accidental American Odyssey (Livingston Press, 2021), The Most Excellent Immigrant (Livingston Press, 2022), Short, Vigorous Roots (with Sue O’Neill, Ooligan Press, 2022). Mark’s fiction has been featured in publications such as Virginia Quarterly Review and The Mississippi Review. Short, Vigorous Roots was the 2022 Foreword Indies winner. Kirkus Review awarded The Most Excellent Immigrant a starred review and named it one of the best books of 2023. markbudman.com
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