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Land South of the Clouds, Excerpt
Genaro Ky Ly Smith lo 8t
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Mother walks out the front door and heads to the mailbox. � ....
She lowers the door, squints inside, reaches a hand in and '�
pulls out a bundle of mail. As she goes through each piece of '£
(1)
mail, Mother mouths the name or company on each envelope before toss­
ing it to the ground. She goes through the bundle quickly and reaches in :::r
for the next stack. Bills and letters pile all around her feet, �
and still she pulls out more, sifting through them faster and mouthing one �
name after another so that they become one continuous word.
She reaches in and shovels out all the letters, and she doesn't
pause until she comes across a clutter of envelopes with blue stripes along the
edges. But she continues, reaching inside and sweeping them all onto the patio.
The letters slide down the steps and onto the street below.
She cleans out the last of the letters before peering inside the mailbox.
Mother reaches in with her right hand. The box swallows her arm whole. Her
armpit is butted up against the edge. She cranes her head back and shuts her
eyes against the sun, and grunts. Sweat forms over her brows, and her neck is
beginning to glisten. She pulls but only manages to keep her armpit from
touching the mailbox. Her body curves taut from her pulling.
Still, she strains with the box. Her arms shake. Her legs tremble so
much that more than once they buckle from under her, but she catches herself
each time. The blouse is wet against her body. Streaks of sweat fall along the
sides of her temples and collect at her chin. Mother bares her teeth as she pulls,
and her elbow is now exposed. She stops for a moment and pants. Before con­
tinuing, Mother breathes in through her nose and blows air from her mouth in
quick spurts. Her grunting gets louder.
"Long-Vanh. Help. Me."
I run to her side.
"Help. Me."
I wrap my arms around Mother's waist.
"Pull," she forces the word.
I tighten my hold around Mother and together we pull. Her stomach
1if tightens, and I feel it fill up and deflate with each breath. We go at it for
a some time until she says, "OK. Let go."
a
I stand aside to watch. Mother relaxes her whole body, takes in a cou­
!I ple of deep breath ·, fixe her hold on the object im.ide the box and takes in
�Painful surpri s one last breath. Leaning away from the mailbox, she yanks
&� - and out comes what he has been reaching for all these
years. Mother ends up on the ground with her back
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