Here’s another short excerpt from my book, Existential Fish (2011), in which Jen and her younger brother, Jimmy, happen to meet up at a high school keg party. The book is a collection of short stories involving the several teenagers. Some of the stories are only a few pages long, others longer, and some of the stories continue throughout this book and the earlier book, Atomic Yardsale (2011). Among my favorites characters are Auggie (who is repeatedly locked in his school locker), Scooter (Auggie’s dead gerbil who visits from the afterlife), and Eddie (who applies Einstein’s theory of relativity to get his friends into Dan Meyer’s senior keg party).

     My right hand is still swollen, so I’m continuing to practice drawing with my left hand. I’m trying to use my right hand as little as possible for about a week to allow it to heal. I’ve discovered just how much I rely on my right hand for everyday tasks: brushing teeth, using the TV remote, using forks and knives to eat…. Typing on the computer. Trying to limit the typing right now, too.