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Arvilla Fee

Wrong Side of the Tracks

“Guuurrl”—if you knew Dana, that was how she began almost every story. And she didn’t just tell a story with words; her hands waved in a theatrical blur, until she fell over on the floor, laughing. No matter what family function we were having, Dana always seemed to be at the center. And Lord help us if Dana cocked her head sideways like a puppy when confronted with a piece of mind-bending trivia. “Hold on—say what?” Like the time we had to explain that a prime minister wasn’t part of the Catholic church. No one could be in a hurry to leave either. A person didn’t dare walk away from Dana without getting at least three hugs and a dozen I-love-you’s. And that amount tripled for the kids.

We didn’t talk about her demons. There were a few odd visits—with dilated pupils and lapses in conversations. Maybe an occasional trip to the ER—low potassium levels, we were told. But she seemed to have them under control. Until that one night, and all we hear now are the words of the EMTs: nothing we could do.

no hand on the glass—
the train pulls away
from the station

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About the Author

Arvilla Fee is married to an Air Force colonel and has four children. Military life has enriched her teaching and writing careers as she’s lived in five different states and visited several countries. With each new piece, she hopes her readers will wipe away tears, burst out in laughter, think critically about the world in which we live… or just say, “She gets me!”