Fiction Snippets with Jewelry Maker and Hometown Hero Melissa Sonico

We’re always in awe of our Hometown Heroes and their creative talents. Take Melissa Sonico, for example. Aside from handcrafting beautiful modern jewelry, she also writes. She was kind enough to oblige us with some flash fiction (we’re big fans of the genre) inspired by accessories from her collection. We hope you enjoy these extra-short stories.

Cath stands in the kitchen trying to spread the glob of too-cold cream cheese onto a bagel. A chunk stays lodged in one spot, reminding her of the pattern on her earrings. “I have to pick up my car from the shop today,” her boyfriend tells her. Conversations are never funny at breakfast. They only ever consist of plans and lists and cursing because the coffee filters ran out. Cath hates that. She just wants to read lots of books by dead people, call her father when she says she will and be funny all the time.

For Paloma, flying is a big source of anxiety. She sits in the window seat of the emergency exit aisle, feeling like the placement is both a comfort and a danger. “Be cool,” she says out loud and removes the clip from her hair, only to fasten it on the other side. “Be cool.”

Deandra’s mother often worries at her through phone calls, insisting again that she should have been a dental hygienist like her cousin, Joanie. “Molars and bicuspids don’t interest me,” Deandra says, playing with the leather cord of her necklace. To which her mother replies: “Of course they do. You have them, don’t you?”

Ooh, we want more! Thanks so much, Melissa. Shop her pieces plus others from our Hometown Heroes here.