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FICTION - ISSUE FOUR

The Halcyon Days

JAMES YODER



Remember that time when I fell out of that tree, she said. Those were the halcyon days, I said. That was the golden age, she said. Those were the best of times, I said. That was before dad died, she said. It was also before the time I took out the gun and there was that split second when dad’s skull looked like putty being stretched too hard in one direction. Those were the halcyon days, she said. I put my arm around her and fit it snug in the pocket of her shorts. I try to be happy, she said, and then she took a bite out of a peach. That’s all moldy, I said, and I took the peach, and I flung it behind the house where it belonged. She spent the rest of the day thinking about that peach, but it was gone. 

Today was the day it happened - four years ago - but you can’t blame anyone for that. It’s too late now, I said. I feel like the leaves are coming in, she said. Let’s drive out to Alpharetta, I said. That’s where the peaches grow, she said. And the women wear big hats, I said. It was the day for it, so we loaded up the car, just two in the front seat. She put her arm around me as a joke. When we finally got to the spot, she bought a peach, and I took the peach and put it on the grave. Then we both kneeled, but not at the same time. You should smell the earth, I said. 

That year things felt different than before. It’s because dad is moldy, she said. Is that what your nose told you, I said. Yes, she said, and she took a shovel. Six feet down and three across, I said. Two hours later, we were there. He looked swollen like a big peach, and she took him home and flung him behind the house where he belonged.











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James Yoder is the son of Ana and Jim Yoder of Dallas, TX. Beyond his curricular pursuits at Harvard College where he pursues an A.B. degree in Statistics and a minor in the Classics, he is a writer and editor for the Harvard Lampoon, a magazine that publishes jokes. You can read his other piece in Issue Four here. 
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