Over and over again: A short story and novella/novel excerpt

I decided for my thesis to make it a collection of short stories and novel/novella excerpts because I wanted to include as much of the different kinds of fiction I was creating or editing during my time here at the program as I could fit. I also felt that the stories I specifically chose for this thesis, in spite of their differing plots and thematic interests did have one major theme in common, which was the exploration of the passing of time and the ways it affects someone. In “Over and Over Again,” Stacey Park is trying to find out who she wants to be after learning that she does not need to fit the expectations her family or her hometown pressured her to follow unfairly. In “Penny,” the titular poodle realizes how quickly you can grow up and how you can be forced to confront responsibilities no one should have to face. In Time to Fall, Hyun-Joo must confront her mortality despite only being 25-years-old. In “Waiting Room,” a Southerner confronts the ways homophobia throughout their lives has affected their community, herself, and the person she loves and tries to go against it. In “Apocalypse Ago,” a group of college students who discover human-eating sushi are on the loose are forced to realize how quickly time can be lost. Lastly, in To a Memory You Never Had Before, Charlie who struggles with intense PTSD and OCD experiences his memories out of chronological order and sometimes from his own perspective and others, like he is looking at himself from someone else’s point-of-view to explore the effect time away from someone’s trauma can affect someone’s memory, psychology, and perception. My hope with all these stories is to create situations for my characters that don’t shy away from the fact that the world can be sometimes hard to understand and sad to perceive, but at the same time, offer a look into how we can still keep living in spite of that all.