From Other People We Married: Stories, by Emma Straub
“Lets go interact with some nature.”
The two sisters of this story, who meet in Palm Springs for vacation, don’t really like each other. We’re privy to one side’s obvious endurance test of the other. As an only child I don’t have the luxury, but with siblings is this how it goes? One sister made her way into life and the other does stand-up. One has kids; the other only finds one-night stands. In the desert you’re punished for stupidity, and Straub makes sure that going out to see what’s what, is going to mean someone gets what they don’t want. In this case, it’s the sister who has it figured out.
The hot air and the cloudless vista bathe our sexy heroines and create a canvas that is more like a prison. I liked how the sister with the most to say has nothing to lose, and the other, well, she’s just in it for the sunshine. When she admits to herself that the only coping mechanism she has is to make fun of her sister in a stand up comedy routine. What would you think? There is only one way out, and she better take it.