Monkey Do

by Mark Wisniewski

This story was originally published in Day One , a weekly literary journal dedicated to short fiction and poetry from emerging writers. Being the matriarch of a family riddled with alcoholism, sexual abuse, infidelity, divorce, and religious crises hasn’t exactly prepared the grandmother to be the best guardian for her grandson. And now that the Internet grants any kid with a computer unlimited exposure to all kinds of debauchery, it’s even harder to protect the youth’s innocence. Still, as she struggles with her own past—both as a victim and perpetrator of wrongdoing—she’ll try to tease apart genetic inclination and behavior, predisposition and familial habit. After all, is private pain simply passed on through DNA, or does it take real-world experience to acquire dysfunction and pathos?

13 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 28, 2015

Reviews

[Charlotte Swag · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great quick read

A sexy, sad, disturbing, masterful short story. What impresses here is the intimate, authentic voice. Highly recommend this and the author's debut novel as well.