LJ Idol - Week 28 - Fatal Flaw

[messygorgeous]

My heart. That brilliant, bruised, wide-as-sky organ that beats in my chest.

My father always said it would be the death of me. But I don't believe that, never did believe that a gentle heart, a caring soul was inferior, inadequate.

Dad certainly felt otherwise. To be softhearted made me deficient in some way, defective.

When I was 10 and I cried

Comments

[penpusher]

Thanks for this piece. A difficult portrait to paint, for certain, but one that is clearly colored with the truth. I especially liked your connection from the dog your father expected you to hit to his very own bark in the next paragraph. Brilliantly crafted.

[messygorgeous]

Thank you. I have a racist father myself, so, there is a lot reality in this piece.

I just couldn't stop thinking about what happened in Charlottesville this past weekend, can't help but fear what comes next for our country. I didn't really want to write this either- I wanted to write something funny about faulty eclipse glasses - but I couldn't do it.

[halfshellvenus]

Wow. I'm so sorry you were such an up-close part of that awful event, and injured by that lunatic. Thank goodness more people weren't killed, though there is no excuse for the one poor girl who was.

God, your father. If that didn't soften his heart as to seeing things from another perspective, nothing will.

And yes-- I can't believe we're protesting against the same kinds of things as during the '60s. Trump has catapulted racism back decades into the past, by tacitly condoning its proponents.

[messygorgeous]

Wait, no, no! I was not there!

After reading so much about Charlottesville, seeing the images, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the event. About the hate and horror of it all.

I did grow up with a racist father, and a large part of who I am is a reaction to his blindness and negativity. What makes someone a protestor? Makes them fight for kindness and tolerance? I wanted to explore that.

[halfshellvenus]

Ah-- it doesn't say "fiction," so I assumed it was non-fiction!

Well-written fiction, then. :)

[marlawentmad]

It is a great narrative you wove here. You did an excellent job of putting yourself in the experience.

[i_17bingo]

I am incredibly lucky I have tolerant, liberal parents--so many people I know don't have that luxury. And while this piece was fiction (it took me until the last few paragraphs to figure that out), it is clear that there is so much reality in there that it's painful.

[bleodswean]

I'm sorry to hear how much of this fiction piece is based on your own life. Such a terrible thing to have to unpack.