Five on the Fifth, A Sombre Timbre (September 2023)

My second short story published recently in Five on the Fifth. This wonderful, online literary magazine has been on my radar for quite some time and I’ve always enjoyed the parameters of reading a content issue each month. One general fiction piece, a few flash pieces and often, some thoughtful poetry. The artwork is always beautiful for the digital cover. All of this to say, I’ve admired this lit mag for quite some time. So when the editor let me know my story would be featured in the September 2023 issue, I was over the moon.

A Somber Timbre spans a short stretch of highway as a daughter and father find themselves growing further apart while they sit side by side. The pair struggle to understand each other in the shadow of the mother’s untimely death, leaving them with only each other and the disappointment that contains. Tinged with instrumental references meant to immerse the reader in a sensory experience beyond words, the stilted conversation between the two digs up the mysteries of family and the otherness we all can experience, even within ourselves. No matter how much we may think we know our family, or ourselves, we can always be proven wrong.