From Birds of A Lesser Paradise: Stories by Megan Mayhew Bergman
Scribner – March 2012

This story was sent through the dryer on high heat. Lila is on her way a to prison farm to examine the animals, to see what can be sold, and what should be put down. We slowly learn that Lila has been attacked by an animal that she was caring for. She was pulling the quills out of its tongue when the animal woke up and, well, it didn’t end well. Lila is ground down to a fine powder, to use a John Irving line, and she’s barely scraping by.

Ms Bergman reveals in short bursts how she can slide a character that is run of the mill, down a path that is anything but. Does she bump into a farm hand that wants her to save more than an animal? I immediately thought of the movie Brubaker when I read this.

The road in and out of the prison has living road signs, and like every other place in this collection, is littered with unique quirks, although some are just memories for Lila, others ask you to throw change at them.

There are so few moments when you’re not in Lila’s head that when you reach the other side of this story, and it is a quick sprint, that you almost have to read it again just to go back relive it properly.