New Voices: “Outside The Window, The Savage Rain” by EC Belli

April 10, 2014

Congratulations to New Voices author, EC Belli for her wonderful flash fiction story, “Outside The Window, The Savage Rain.” We were taken with the mysterious notion behind the veil of this story. It’s one of those pieces you simply can’t forget. Enjoy!

the-rainThe first meeting they discussed the schedule.

Once a week wouldn’t work.

Anything could happen in between, and they had material to cover.

Someone in the back, I think it was Vida, suggested three meetings a week. But there were other obligations. They had to see everyone beforehand; they couldn’t just disappear for hours on end like that. And the lawyers had questions. They asked questions like they expected you to know the answers. Weren’t they getting paid to give answers? Fuck. How about meetings at night, when the others would be sleeping? In the middle of the fucking night? I’m done with this charade, Dave said. Maybe you should fuck someone, Tess said. Maybe you should just go fuck yourself, Paul said, barking like a dog when you break them.

Someone chuckled in the back. That was pretty funny, a voice that was porous and thin said. Enough with the cursing, Jesus, another voice that was unrecognizable, unaffected, common said. You just can’t wait, can you? was tossed across the room like a plate thrown at a lover, obliquely, obscurely, by someone as cold as a sidewalk at four in the morning. You’ve been waiting for this your whole fucking life, haven’t you? Well, yes, I suppose I have. Someone chuckled again. I think at night sounds best, Colleen said. It’s fair to them. Colleen, at sixteen, commanded a certain respect from the group. So it was. Twice a week from that day on.

Nobody expected anything from them.

So they would expect things from each other.

The second meeting they practiced breathing in the darkness.

Dave didn’t come.

Read the rest of this story, here.

TMR_logo

At The Masters Review, our mission is to support emerging writers. We only accept submissions from writers who can benefit from a larger platform: typically, writers without published novels or story collections or with low circulation. We publish fiction and nonfiction online year-round and put out an annual anthology of the ten best emerging writers in the country, judged by an expert in the field. We publish craft essays, interviews and book reviews and hold workshops that connect emerging and established writers.



Follow Us On Social

Masters Review, 2024 © All Rights Reserved