"Fly Away, Breath" by Wendell Berry from The Threepenny Review is a plain spoken, semi-realistic story set in a man's
mind. The story is told in third person from inside Andy Catlett's mind. He can roam far into the past, when engines were a rarity. We are transported to 1907 to see his grandmother's grandmother (Maximilla) die, but not before we get her life story. There are several women around the bed as she is near death. They think she is gone, but she isn't. This causes much laughter, embarrassment sprouts more. Andy can hear this laughter in the future, in his mind.
This broad-sweeping story captures the essence of "Aunt Maxie" and her life. It is told far away and it works beautifully. The detail is left up to the reader, they are, after all, somewhere inside Andy's mind. The end is weak and strong at the same time. It slips into an entirely unexpected direction, which I find pleasing. But it doesn't do anything for the reader. There is no "point," and nothing learned by Andy, the women, or the reader. It's only a pleasure read, and a good story for that.