Sudetenland Tales by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Sudetenland Tales

Page 292

Jolene’s refuge which she shared with some male perverts who had taken possession of the lady’s room. She spent hours after school flipping through design magazines and repair manuals, dreaming of futures with real textures and form.

At ten, she fixed a broken toaster with a butter knife and YouTube tutorials on a borrowed phone. It sparked her fascination with discarded things.

During power outages, Jolene would rearrange furniture with a flashlight just to imagine a different life. Her mom called it "night moves."

There were also moments of deep ache.

Ther was that dad shaped vacancy. She only knew her father through a photograph where he looked like a country singer in a faded denim shirt. When she asked about him, her mom would say, "He's like daylight savings; shows up late and disappears fast."

Schoolyard shame: On winter days, Jolene wore mismatched gloves and once fainted during gym because she skipped breakfast. The counselor handed her a granola bar and asked about her feelings. Jolene said, "I feel like I'm background noise."

But beneath the scarcity was a quiet fire. Jolene didn't grow up dreaming of luxury; she dreamed of impact. Of turning what was