Two Little Words

by Adam Jeffries Schwartz

My mother practiced a kind of Chinese Communism; you
will agree with the state--meaning her--or you will be
re-educated.

In one memorable twenty-four hour perod in June 1974
the issue was washcloths: blue or yellow (camp
colors). I was ten years old and wasn't going to use
either color.

To great effect my mother used: sleep deprivation,
bright lights, loud noises, good cop/bad cop. Mostly
she used repetition as a device of torture.

Here are two little words I never used: drinking and
problem.

The Author

Adam Jeffries Schwartz is a writer and a traveler. His stories, postcards and essays have been published in over twenty magazines, including: Ghoti, Melange, Forbidden Fruit, Laika Poetry Review, The Suitcase Generation and Ascent Aspirations.