“I imagine Evelin, her flour-sack print dress, brandishing stick dolls with her younger cousin, whose rash and persistent fever earlier that month no one mentioned. I imagine Evelin waking near dawn, whimpering, coughing, hot to the touch. Grandma takes her into their bed, Grandpa having left to cart fuel to farmers. The child sleeps fitfully, radiating heat.“
Enjoy this audio recording of “Evelin” by Ann Bauleke from Vol. 32:3 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here.
Ann Bauleke’s nonfiction has been published in The MacGuffin, Rosebud, and The North American Review. Her essay “Spinsters” was listed Notable in Best American Essays 2015. She is a MacDowell Colony Fellow and lives in Minneapolis, MN.