Squawk Back took Shaving Fate
Yes.
Another publishing credit for another story. But it’s not just another piece. This story is a special one and I never broke
faith with it despite the time and effort it took to place it. It was written as a response to two pieces
brought to writer’s group. The story
behind the story is about to begin.
Gather round.
Within our group, at the time, was a sister
and brother combo. The sister has and
continues to be the anchor for the group and the brother, who also dabbled in
writing, had many health concerns and lived in the extended care wing of the
local hospital. Initially his sister
would read his pieces at group, but eventually the group started meeting at the
hospital so that he could comfortably join us.
One meeting these siblings read their stories which were both titled
‘The Man Who Shaved His Face Off.’ They
had challenged each other to use one of the brother’s pet saying in this
way. It was a fun thing and I remember
thinking that I wish I had been involved with the challenge. It must have been in the back of my mind
because the next step towards ‘Shaving Fate’ occurred when I dipped into my
movie review book – which I use for plot sparks – and I read about a man who
had shaven off his facial hair and no one noticed. He took this as a sign that he was generally
not noticed and it lead to tragic results.
Hmmm. What if? What if someone read one of the short stories
titled The Man Who Shaved His Face Off and he shaved his mustache off and that
act lead to his conviction for murder? I
ran with the strange little idea and by next meeting I read Shaving Fate at
writer’s group. It was good for a smile
or two and I may not have sought publication for it except I heard that the brother later said of the
story – you don’t really know if he’s guilty or innocent, do you? A simple comment but it gave me confidence
about this particular story.
There are other things that this man from
our writer’s group said concerning writing that have stuck. His words ‘something has to happen’ occasionally haunt me still. And that is why, after this man’s death,
Shaving Fate has become my tribute piece to Terry Trefiak. Thank You.
