Microwaves (NEW)

The use of microwave(s) is lovely here and really adds to this portrait of someone experiencing such loneliness. The grocery store is a great place to start off; the play on words throughout the reading is impressive. I especially liked the description of the hopeful young couples, living in their transitional/trashy neighborhoods.

I really like this story. There aren't many that I send on to others, but this is definitely one of them. I feel like I can relate to the narrator shopping alone and purchasing frozen dinner because I can't bring myself to cook an entire meal just to eat alone. I especially like the part about year book photos shopping for family stuff and home furnishings and what not. It is so strange to know people I went to Junior High and High school with that are getting married and having babies. It's easy to feel behind the pack somehow - like you missed a step. I think the narrator depicts this feeling REALLY well.
The only part of this story I didn't like was the ending when the narrator mentions inescapable metaphors directly. I think the beauty of metaphors is that you don't have to say what they are or point them out. They are like secret messages that only some people can comprehend or interpret. And what is really cool is how different people interpret them in different ways or how one person can catch one and the other catch a completely different one entirely and have a completely different outlook on the story. In this way, I think the story is better without pointing this out because it confronts several different inescapable metaphors in a very obvious and intricate manner.

Thanks for the story! Can't wait to hear more.