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Stolpestad

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Stolpestad
By William Lychack

Do you ever feel like you are going nowhere? Like your life is stuck in stagnation. Getting out of bed in the morning, going to work and returning home to bed just to rise and repeat the exact same routine the next day and the day after that. The routine becomes so familiar that it feels like the days goes by in a blur. It does not feel like you even exist in your body anymore. That feeling is the theme of the short story, “Stolpestad”, by William Lychack. The short story is named after the main character, Stolpestad, who is a police officer. He is called out to an injured dog and has to put the dog down for a boy and his mother. Late at night, the father to the boy shows up at Stolpestad´s house and tells him that the dog did not die.
“The coffee shops, the liquor stores, laundromats, police, fire, gas stations to pass – this is your life, Stolpestad.” This is all there is. A small town and a boring life. That is Stolpestad´s life. The story takes place on a Saturday afternoon and evening in summer. It is clouded but never breaking into rain, a symbol of Stolpestad´s life. The clouds is a metaphor for how dull and blur his life seems, never changing into rain or letting the sun shine throw. As long as the weather stays the same, his life stays the same. On paper, Stolpestad´s lives the perfectly and comfortably life with the perfect family. “Wife and pair of boys waiting dinner for you…” The traditional family, living the suburban life. Comfortable, but never changing. Nothing exciting ever happening.
Stolpestad never expresses if he likes his life or not, but his actions shows how he feels. Instead of returning home to his perfect little family, he goes to The Elks with the same old crew. A couple of drinks turning into a few and before you know it the clock strikes eleven and the wife, Sheila, is on the phone behind the bar.

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