about the author
Vincent Scarpa is pursuing his BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. His original
play, “Hostage,” was put on by Quiet Hours Theater in Boston in the spring of 2010. He has also participated in the Young Writers Workshop at Bard College and as a reader in the Literary Firsts reading series based in Cambridge, MA. He is a regular contributor for TheBuzzAbout.com, Scene-Stealers.com, and Performer Magazine, and his fiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Girls With Insurance, Pure Francis, Gee I See, and
Monkeybicycle. His debut collection of short stories is available at vincentscarpa.com.
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Everything Must Go
Vincent Scarpa
The day Rick told me he was leaving me for his secretary, I passed a furniture store that was going out of business. The manager, a man in his late thirties, was outside taking down the banner that read “Everything Must Go!” in red bubble letters. He was trying to be careful with it, as if he might need it again, but was having some difficulty. The knots in the string wouldn’t come undone. I saw him picking at each corner, but eventually he grabbed the banner from the middle and ripped down, tearing it right at the capital M. I saw him step down from the ladder and look up at it split in two. He ran both of his hands through his hair, shook his head, and sat down on a pleather couch with a sign that said “Take Me.” And I wanted to help, but was so sure I couldn’t.