Read Toucan here.

 

“Kristen and Lulu split the salmon and held hands as if they shared one cardiovascular system.”

 

This observation from the story’s protagonist, Carrie, a young woman who finds herself on the periphery of this (new) group dynamic, when just a couple of short years ago she and Lulu were best friends. But time, space, and circumstances have pulled them apart, emotionally. And now she finds herself out to dinner with four other women, three of whom are more or less strangers.

K.L. Browne’s story is about the ways in which friendships/relationships evolve, those inevitable changes — some subtle, some life altering — and the way we act and react to those changes. There’s a sophisticated psychological component to this story, which offers an unsettling view of group relational dynamics. But more, it asks that vital question we all ask ourselves in every relationship: how much can I give here? how much do I want to give? am I being fair to myself and this other person?
What do you think of the relationships in the story?