Awarded Honorable Mention and Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
The sections in this story allude to the Garden of Eden and the fall therefrom. In the Genesis story original sin is often connected with sexual knowledge — and here too, the main character Benjy’s downfall involves forbidden sexual experiences. The parts of the story are labled Snake, Garden, Apple, Apple Pie. Admitedly Apple Pie is a bit of a diversion and a joke.
This story was originally submitted to WordRunner as one story of five to create a chapbook of fiction, but was signaled out for an honorable mention to be published in their annual anthology instead. Later it was nominated for a Pushcart prize.
You can link to the story here: https://echapbook.com/anthology/2022/heroic-courtesies.html
The Story Ends -- The Story Never Ends 