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An excerpt from “On Gonoga Falls” by Deborah Yarchun:
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GENNY. We’re in the middle of the Amazon. We’re surrounded by poison dart yielding natives and a team of Russian Government spies. But of course—now we’re stuck because you thought, “Wow. What a great idea. Let’s take a shortcut across the deadly ice-encrusted thousand foot waterfall.”
DANE. Ninety feet.
GENNY. What?
DANE. Gonoga Falls is ninety feet, not a thousand. We’re not stuck. And there’s no ice in the Amazon.
GENNY. Global warming.
DANE. Would melt the ice.
GENNY. Pretend.
DANE. I’m through pretending.
GENNY(Smiling). No you’re not. You’re pretending we’re not stuck.
DANE. We’re having a pleasant lunch.
GENNY. Sure. We can pretend that too, if you want. And eventually, it’s not pretend. “It is.” Right?
DANE. Just. Eat your sandwich.
(She looks down.)
GENNY. You’re sure this is the spot?
DANE. I counted twenty-two waterfalls.
GENNY. I counted twenty-one. This is supposed to be the biggest, right?
DANE. Gonoga Falls…Waterfall types are named for relationships, you know? At least the ones at Ricketts Glen. There’s waterfalls that go like . . . . (He indicates a straight down movement with his hands.) Bridal veil waterfalls. And . . . . (He indicates a tiered motion with his hand.) And wedding cake waterfalls—like Gonoga.
GENNY. So, we’re . . . .
DANE. We’re two figurines jam-trapped unwillingly in the middle of a really dangerous wedding cake.
Read the whole thing
in Out of the Mount,
available NOW!