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My Favorite Story

 "Bridesmaid, Revisited" is an unusual story about friendship.


In high school, Marilee shares lunch with a new girl, Rhonda. Marilee soon realizes that this was a miscalculation; Rhonda doesn't have a sense of humor, and she is clingy. She is the first to "like" each and every one of Marilee's social media comments, including comments that Marilee has typed in response to *other* comments.

Later, having moved to New York, Marilee believes that she has "shed" Rhonda. But this is wrong. Rhonda gets engaged to a dentist--"dentists are wonderful people"--and demands that Marilee return to the midwest to assume a role in the bridal party. Rhonda approaches planning tasks with a certain grimness; she is demanding and clueless. She asks each of the bridesmaids to vote for "solid color" or "print"--then blithely overrides the vote without acknowledging what she is doing. She also requires that each bridesmaid participate in an interlude of "quiet reflection" before the wedding.

Rhonda is pitiful, but she is not a terrible human being. However, Marilee, unhappy with her own life, finds that she has a limited supply of patience for Rhonda. She finds a way to upstage Rhonda at the wedding--and the "revenge moment" is shocking and very painful.

All of this takes us to the present day--a long day at work, during which Marilee must confront her memories. The final paragraph--like so many other Heiny conclusions--feels like the detonation of a small bomb. You don't see it coming.

I love Heiny because I often feel that she is writing about *my* life--with a few well-chosen moments of heightened absurdity. Small things, small choices are important; we show ourselves through small choices. We then choose not to notice or think about these choices--but Heiny stops and writes everything down. She is like the Thornton Wilder definition of a poet--seeing the same invisible thread that *evades detection* in most cases, for most people, on most days.

Marilee's tiny downfall is my current favorite story.
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