36 Comments
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Toni's avatar

Again, thank you!! I am behind in my emails. Since this is a night of insomnia, I am not fussing about not sleeping; I am enjoying catching up with your beautiful creations.

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Janelle Meraz Hooper's avatar

Your story reminded me that it's June. A sad month for some kids of any color. Could it be because, for the first time, they can't see a path forward?

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

The terrors of graduation…

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flipshod's avatar

Wow. Haunting and beautiful and concise.

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Calvinball's avatar

Maybe he wanted a change to the life he saw after graduation. Get out in the darkness, float downstream a bit, swim to shore, circle back and listen, hidden, to his classmates until all had left. Walk to the highway, hitch a ride, and now he's retired on a beach in Kauai.

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Colette K's avatar

This story has stayed with me. I think it's because, although the adults are still stunned and confused, it's the child's clarity that "rescues" us all. Such a clear sweet voice of that little girl! 🙏 Thanks for another stunner!

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Thank you, Colette!

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Wayne Kigerl's avatar

Sometimes, risky behavior is caused by pain one does not understand.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yes, I agree.

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Jess Walter's avatar

Maybe he almost died on purpose ... wow

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Thanks, Jess.

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Winston Malone's avatar

Great job, Sherman! I enjoyed your narration and the story. Looking forward to following your work.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Thank you!

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Steve Lovelace's avatar

Kids really can see the obvious that is often lost to us "Grown Ups".

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yes, they can.

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Tara Lundon's avatar

Maybe Bobby didn’t drown. Maybe he swam that river, and then just kept swimming. Maybe his warrior name is Big Fish, and he’s still swimming, and telling big stories.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

That is a beautiful thought.

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tridukes's avatar

Moving!

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Thank you m

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tridukes's avatar

FYI, my book Pilgrimage: The Only Complete Version of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales will launch on June 15, at Gonzaga.

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Kim Barnes's avatar

"The peer pressure to be heroes riding horses all named Grief." Damn.

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Marcia Lovelace's avatar

What Kim said!

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yeah, as you know, sometimes we write a sentence that makes us say, “Wow, where did that little treasure come from?!”

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Janelle Meraz Hooper's avatar

True. If you really want to know what's in your brain, become a writer.

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Joan DeMartin's avatar

This is gorgeous.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Thank you, Joan.

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Yelling at Clouds's avatar

How do you do that, man? Kicked my guts out from a couple thousand miles away. Thank you, brother.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Thank you, Tim.

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Joe Olson's avatar

That was really powerful. I've always been terrified of drowning. It's strange, because I was on swim team in high school and was a lifeguard in my late teens and early 20s. Ten years ago I spent ten days in the Bahamas swimming with dolphins. The water is an alien world that is inhospitable to human life, yet so alluring and freeing when you're in it.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

I’m scared of water, too. I only learned how to swim in the winter, 2018.

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flipshod's avatar

I've lead a pretty reckless life, but my closest brush with death was when as a young teen. I tried to swim down a river to keep up with some peers (not even my good friends.)

The water was clear and as my last breath was giving out I saw and grabbed a reed and pulled myself up and to the shore. I walked in knee deep mud for half a mile until someone came by on a raft.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Damn! I am such an un-adventurer in terms of physical activity.

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Joe Olson's avatar

Same with my mom, but she still hasn't learned to swim. She nearly drown when her rowboat capsized in Cottage Lake back in the 60s. I imagine the loss of your friend didn't help to make you want to get into the water.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

That particular drowning is a fiction, though I do know two people who drowned in other ways.

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Suzanne's avatar

In one of your books you wrote about a drowning. [ I believe. ] I also thought this was a story of a real event. And--- if you helped me get my Substack issue corrected - I thank you!

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yeah, I didn’t subtitle this as short fiction in the email. It’s identified as such on the website now. And, yes, I have written about the real drownings during my childhood. My sisters witnessed one of them.

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