Sam sammed his way through life, samming out of a loving relationship with his dad, samming his studies in school hard, his teachers urging him to sam less for the sake his education, for the sake of others’ concentration levels, but samming was all he knew, samming was the sanctuary, he inhabited his samness like it was his pelt, a layer between the world and Sam, just a sliver, but enough to remain samintact, his mother suggested he sam in his mind, it was something people did the world over, he could sam all he liked there, samming was meant for there, it was called mindsamming, but Sam said no, he was Sam, and he was going to sam like he’d been samming all this time, Sams sammed, it was in their chemical makeup, kept them ticking, his mother didn’t know because she couldn’t sam, she’d lost the ability after her second pregnancy, the moment Sam became Sam, the moment the door slammed and out came Sam, gone, at least sam a little less, she said, at least look at me, Sam, but the problem with samming is the more you sam the more you want to sam, it’s a snowball of sam, it’s a never ending torrent of sam, it’s a samgrandslam.
Jonathan Cardew’s writing appears or is forthcoming in Wigleaf, Cream City Review, Passages North, Superstition Review, JMWW, Smokelong Quarterly, People Holding, and others. He is the fiction editor for Connotation Press and contributing books reviewer for Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine. He’s been a finalist in the Best Small Fictions, the Wigleaf Top 50, the Bath Flash Fiction Award, and he won a travel toothbrush once at a boules competition in northern Brittany. Originally from the UK, he lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This is sam-damn-tastic. 🙂
HELL, Yes. This language. How you carry us through the grammar with clear logic, it’s absolutely exhilarating and refreshing and makes perfect intrinsic sense to this story — does not feel remotely forced or overlaid. I love the unfolding of sam, how it twists, the playfulness and the profundity, the emotion: “his teachers urging him to sam less for the sake his education — yet, samming was the sanctuary — I feel like this is a story is rally cry for every person who has ever been told they are too much, to tone it down, keep it together, etc.. you’ve gone and delivered a torrent of sam, the rhythm and language irresistible, the result riotous and brilliant.
Sara,
Thanks so much! Glad you mentioned that it didn’t feel forced or overly conceptual, which is often the worry when messing with language norms or structures.
Thanks for giving us permission to play this weekend–so liberating to remember that language is PLAY and in flux all the time.
–Jonathan
Cool use of seamless slipping into words, Jonathan –
makes me think of “The Shining” a bit, as though Sam is a kind of otherworldly gift.
Neat too, that the name is connected to Samhain with the first portion of the word….
Trent,
Ha, the Shining comparison is interesting, I really like that reading!
Many thanks for your comments!
–Jonathan
Its a samgrandslam! This was great on so many levels. And Im not completely certain, but is this all one sentence, if so the comma splices I think worked their magic, because I would have to check, but my eyes this hour and my glasses more than an arm’s reach, at least there’s bourbon. Cheers!
Cheers to Bourbon! Yes, comma splices all the way, baby (which I always shy away from, but felt liberating this time).
Sam-i-licious–not only does turning this name into a verb work like an onomatopoeic charm but the story under the s(l)amming text tells a whole life. I’d love to hear this set to music. Sam-dunk!
Ha, thanks David! Haven’t read this one out loud yet, but I think it’ll be a fun one to hear!
Cheers,
Jonathan
Love this! I kept waiting for the word “slam” and there it was! I grinned throughout. Thank You.
Jonathan, this is so damn inventive! I love how you invent all these Sam-centric words, an entirely new language. And it all works, it all makes perfect sense. The samgrandslam might be a touch too cute and expected at the end, but, hey, that’s just nitpicking. I mean this is a godsam delight!
This is marvelous. I keep waiting for a very serious, Sam I am! Jonathan, this is an anthem. I love what you do here with language and grammar. It’s beautiful.
Jonathan! I laughed through the entire story! This is great. I love that Mom and others try to take some of the Samness out, but Sam is Sam! It’s all he knows. This is brilliant! I hope you send her out! LOVE!
I love this so much Jonathan! Love the samming and samplay and samalamadingdong, and love that you’re making us so joyful while describing something poignant — the poor Sams of the world who must tone down their samness for the sake of all the unsams. Thanks so much for this.