Sudetenland Tales by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Sudetenland Tales

Page 263

Hollywood

In Hollywood, now a part of Sudetenland, the playground on Sycamore and Orange sat in the shadow of a faded billboard once graced by a silver screen legend, maybe Gloria Swanson. Its swings creaked like old camera rigs and the sandbox shimmered faintly with broken flecks of glitter; remnants of long gone glamour, maybe, or someone's careless “arts and crafts” explosion.

On Tuesday morning, three parents converged there with their kids, each carrying layers of unspoken history behind their sunglasses and reusable coffee cups.

Mara, a former stuntwoman now wrangling toddler tantrums, set her son Jax loose toward the slide. Her walk was limping but proud; she still had the fire, even if it mostly showed up when negotiating nap times.

Louis, a screenwriter who hadn't sold a script in five years but still called himself “in development,” watched his daughter Luna build elaborate forts in the sand. He scribbled into a notebook between glances, convinced Luna's imagination might be contagious.

Diana, once the youngest assistant on a movie set that never got released, was now a single mother of twins. She wore earbuds