Runner Up: Andrea Uptmor
Chicago, IL
Congratulations, Andrea!
Andrea's Bio:
Andrea Uptmor is the recipient of the Union League of Arts & Civics Foundation 2006 fiction prize. She has been published in “The Chicago Reader” and is currently finishing her Masters of Arts in Creative Writing at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.
500 Words About Sally Rincker
By Andrea Uptmor
No, you never forget someone like Sally Rincker, not ever, she dances through your mind for ten years on the weight of her tangy perfume and hairless tan legs - not just shaven but smooth beyond your skin's wildest dreams, though you cursed and scraped the razor along upwards, sideways, in double helixes around your stubborn pale knee, like your mom advised, only to helplessly watch as the swarms of prickly red bumps marched upwards, unrelenting - and honestly Sally Rincker wasn't the prettiest (the nose!) but she was the most popular, you never did forget the image of her walking into Computer Class, all ankles, books hugged to her chest, Brian Dallas gently kissing the arc of those bangs, his hand in the scoop of her back, the glorious light of the Computer Lab shining around them, casting their silhouette across lockers so sweetly it made your cuticles hurt; in fact, you joined the cheerleading squad because of Sally, so that she would teach you the rules of soft hair and giggle next to you on the bus; you went to the practices every day after sixth period, studied the skillful way the she wore her sweat, tried to understand how she made the uniform skirt go swish swish when yours kept sticking between your thighs, and Sally began to like you, she invited you to baby-sit with her and shop for bracelets, and she scrunched up her waxed eyebrows at you and said things like you're such a card, and you followed her around in a daze, rahhing and raahing and sis-boom-baahing, but truly you always hated the halftime buzzer, the squeak of sneakers, the grunt Judith Baker emitted before hoisting you up in the air, where you hovered and smiled and clapped and scanned the crowd for Brian Dallas or one of his friends; you spent all four years assuming that everyone felt the way you did, and this is what life is, it's mediocrity, it's tepid, and it wasn't until the last game of the last season, your senior year, when Josh McElroy missed the final shot and your heart raced with joy that it was over, that you could finally take off the swishy skirt and let your leg hair soften naturally, when you turned and saw Sally's face, her eyes two marbles of pure sky, lips turned down, and you finally got it, it hit you all at once that life is huge and marvelous, it's not lukewarm for everyone, it certainly wasn't like this for Sally, who enjoyed it purely, loved unconditionally, and whimpered mascara into your greasy shoulder right there on the gymnasium floor, before you threw your pom-pom into the dark night; no, you never forget someone like Sally Rincker, and so on that shiny fall day ten years later when the box arrives on your porch, a stray crimped yellow fringe stuck under the tape on the side, you know that Sally Rincker could never forget someone like you, not ever.
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