Authors Interviewing Characters – Terena Elizabeth Bell

Authors Interviewing Characters – Terena Elizabeth Bell

TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE  (Whiskey Tit, December 2022)

Tell Me What You See (Whiskey Tit, December 2022) is a collection of ten experimental short stories about coronavirus quarantines, climate change, the January 6th invasion on the US Capitol, and other events from 2020-2021. Written in both word and image, pieces from the collection have been called “​​inventive and topical and fresh, emotional, chaotic, and important” by The McNeese Review and “timely, relevant, and interesting” by The Missouri Review.

The interview below is with Lily, the five year-old, principal character in title story “Tell Me What You See,” a 2021 New York Foundation for the Arts City Artist Corps winner. Lily and the author are seated next to each other in an optometrist’s waiting room right before the story begins.

Author: Hi, sweetheart. What’s your name?

Lily: Lily.

A: And what are you doing here?

L: I don’t know. I see fine.

A: Hmm. Well, that is kind of odd for an eye doctor’s office. 

L: That’s what I thought!

A: So you mean nothing’s bothering you, nothing at all — not even a tiny blink?

L: [laughing] No.

A: So why did you come?

L: My teacher made me. [pointing] She’s over there.

A: The highly disagreeable looking one?

[Lily snickers.]

A: Okay, then. Let’s try this. How many fingers am I holding up? [holds up three fingers]

L: Three.

[Author then holds up all fingers on her right hand.]

L: Four. No, five — does your thumb count as a finger?

[Author laughs.]

L: So why are you here?

A: I’m a writer.

L: [pauses] What’s that got to do with eyes?

A: I have to be able to see the story.

L: You don’t use a voice dictator? They make us use them at school. [leaning in] Don’t let them know you can write. [whispers] That’s how I wound up here.

A: [puts hand on Lily’s shoulder] Don’t worry; I won’t. [Lily straightens, both nod in acknowledgement.] When I meant I had to see the story, I meant I have to get a hold on what’s going on, figure out what’s happening, learn who the characters are, before I can write it.

L: Am I a character?

A: [looks sad] Yes, sweetheart. You are.

L: Will I be okay?

[Author doesn’t say anything, just looks down and bites her lip.]

L: [tugs Author’s sleeve] Hey, hey, you’re writing this, right? You can make me okay.

A: That’s not the way writing goes.

L: [continuing to tug] No. No. You’re the one in charge. You can make this story whatever you want. You can make it okay.

A: Honey, I wish I could. But the actions that got this story going, they can’t be taken back. They were big. Just trust me. You’ll see. I wish they weren’t real, I wish they had never happened, but they weren’t my fault. They weren’t something I could write and make them go away. We couldn’t any of us make them go away. We tried. We really did. Me and the other writers — we all tried our hardest in our very own ways. But it was crazy. You’ll see. When you go in there — oh, honey, I would write this over a hundred times to keep this from happening to you [begins hugging Lily, will not let her go] — but there’s nothing I can do. This has to happen to you.

L: [yanks herself away, turns face from Author] I thought you were my friend.

[At the door, a new character appears: Matilde, the doctor’s assistant.]

Matilde: Lily? Dr George is ready for you.

[Refusing to look at the Author, Lily stands and goes through the door.

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