The Northville Review
an online literary journal
Priorities

Eric Beeny

Lucas asked Garvey to write down three things on three tiny sheets of paper, three things he cared most about, that he would never want to get rid of.

Garvey thought for a while, decided maybe he really did like his family, and maybe seeing this behavior specialist was really a good idea.

He wanted to be a better person, to treat the mother of his child and his child like he cared about them both more than anything in the world.

He wrote on the first his girlfriend, Alesta, and on the second he wrote My son, Landon, and on the last one he wrote Not being shot.

Then Lucas asked Garvey to get rid of one, crumple it up and toss it out, the one of the three he thought he could most do without.

Before Lucas asked Garvey to explain how he’d manage to survive without it, missing it even, Garvey had already crumpled up Not being shot.

About the author

Eric Beeny’s work has recently or will appear in 3:AM, Abjective, Dogzplot, >Kill Author, Matchbook, Pear Noir!, Spilt Milk, among others. His small novel, The Dying Bloom, was published as an e-book by Pangur Ban Party. He’s a contributing editor for Gold Wake Press. His blog is Dead End on Progressive Ave. (ericbeeny.blogspot.com).