A former alcoholic who works at a bank has a very bad day.

(from Big Cats)

Jose put his arms around my waist. “I want to welcome you, David,” he said. “Your probation period is over. It’s over, man. How does it feel to be a full-time hire?”

I looked down at the top of his head. Jose took a step back. His eyes were bright.

He reached out and took one of my hands and clasped it in both of his. My fingers were sticky from the baby aspirin. “Tell me, David,” he said, and then he was back in my arms, so close to me his words were muffled against my shirt front. “How does it feel?”

I’d never heard of Holiday Reinhorn before but I’ve been reading back issues of literary journals from school. I have a key to the office, you see, and nobody–NOBODY–ever reads the journals that are sent from all over the country. So I have begun to take them and sometimes return them and sometimes bring back others in exchange. The other editors should do the same but they don’t. Sometimes I feel like I’m one of the few people who really LOVES to read. I just love it. And I’ve been finding all sorts of great stories, digging them up for this website. Patrick, thankfully, reads current books that other people are actually reading (thank you, Patrick).

So this story is from an old issue of Ploughshares, but you’d be better off buying her book. Some things I learned about Holiday Reinhorn: she is married to Rainn Wilson from The Office; she got her MFA at Iowa; she’s extremely talented but has only published one book, in 2005.

About this story: the voice is incredibly engaging from the first sentence and never falters. It starts with an earthquake and gets more exciting from there without being over-the-top or unrealistic. I love stories about addicts and people losing their shit and this story really goes for it. It’s awesome. Here is an excerpt. Please read it now.