The stories of Sudden Flash Youth may all be less than one thousand words, but that doesn't mean they can't pack a punch in those few pages. They're all short, and they all deal with the subject of youth, but it's certainly a diverse compilation, covering all voices and perspectives. In one story, we hear from a young narrator growing up during the Nixon era who is wondering if they he bother being good anymore, in a time when even the president has been caught lying.
Until the woodpecker comes to Lily, Arkansas, Cullen Witter is preparing for another slow summer in his boring small town. A suspicious birdwatcher's alleged sighting of the thought-to-be-extinct woodpecker brings publicity and hope to the small town, and Cullen's hairdresser mother is busy giving young boys bright red mohawks, inspired by the town's obsession with the Lazarus bird. Cullen highly doubts the birdwatcher's credibility and the existence of the bird, but he also has bigger things to think about.
On June 21st, 1958, a Greyhound bus collided with a Thunderbird convertible, killing all the bus passengers, the driver of the car, and a motorcycle cop on the scene. This event happened on a road in Connecticut, where County Route 13 meets State Highway 31. Also known as the Crossroads.
Would you be afraid if your boyfriend was going to kill you? Would you want to have nothing for food but blood? And do you think it would just be horrible not to be able to get a tan? If you would answer yes to these questions, be glad you're not Beth Frasier. She has to deal with all three of these situations, and that's the reason why she really doesn't want to be a vampire anymore. She thinks her boyfriend wants to kill her because she transformed him into a vampire, and the only way he can be human again is by killing her.
