RoseWattleWriting

Flash Fiction

The “Ghost of the Chak Valley” is an example of what many veterans experience and learn to cope with, so that they can remain productive members of a world where the lines between reality and past experiences collide, blurring the scenery of home and faraway lands.

Personal Vignette

“Brother Kight’s Love” tells the story of a grandfather instilling a strong work ethic in his grandson through small gestures and words of encouragement. As “Jojo navigates life after his grandfather passes away, he comes to a crossroads in life and wonders if his grandfather would be proud of the man he has become, only to find the answer to his questions in the most unlikely of people.

Poem

“The Sands that Seperate” is a poem about a soldier who longs to be reunited with his daughter, recalling what home felt like through letters and memories while he is in a faraway, desolate land.

Reflection on a Literary Work

Thanh Nguyen’s story “Someone Else Besides You” resonates with me because I feel that much of my own past and the culture I grew up in and around ultimately shaped who I am today, for better or worse. Is it a phenomenon that people who grow up in the same environments can end up in completely different spaces than each other as their lives go by? Some succumb to the poisons that flood the neighborhoods with lower economic situations, and others flourish. Like “Thomas” in Viet Thanh Nguyen’s I had men in my life as a child who were emotionally deaf and a lot of bits rough around the edges. The kind of men who considered showing you that they cared came in the form of an insult. But these men, like Thomas’ father, always gave it to me straight; they showed me how to take care of my life and let me know when I was falling short. Therefore, I believe that the combination of growing up in an environment that I didn’t want to raise my children in and the men who helped me to the fire gave me the desire to always move forward and strive to be the best version of me that I can be.