Choose Me by Evelyn Lau

The second collection of short stories I've read recently, and I found this one to be much more enjoyable. I don't have bad things to say about the other collection (Rock Springs), but this one grabbed me a whole lot more. From the first story to the last, Lau had me engrossed; her story-telling abilities outshine many other authors. She expresses so much emotion and sets such a detailed scene in so few words. Remarkable.

Choose Me on BookCrossing.

you deserved so much

He wandered into the kitchen and Becky opened the sliding doors to the deck which circled the building. It was a pleasant day made beautiful by the height and panoramic view. The clouds in the blue sky were faintly pink-cast. The city below was mountain and architecture, forest and ocean. She wondered what it would be like to live like this. To feel you deserved so much in life. Would there be any room left for fear?

-- "Blue Skies" in Choose Me by Evelyn Lau

like copious tears

She pictured him writing on a notepad propped on the meal tray, his elbow occasionally bumping the passenger seated next to him, one hand steadying his plastic cup of ice water when the plane encountered a patch of turbulence so it would not spill, like copious tears, onto his letter.

-- "Suburbia" in Choose Me by Evelyn Lau

without getting drunk beforehand

"Oh, I'm sorry"

He grabbed at her wrist in apology.

"No, it's fine."

Zoe raised her wet glass and drank from it, smiling to show him everything was all right. They were not, she realized, bad people, either of them. They could not do what they were about to do without getting drunk beforehand.

-- "Family" in Choose Me by Evelyn Lau