{"id":785,"date":"2024-02-07T09:23:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T15:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/?post_type=product&#038;p=785"},"modified":"2025-09-05T12:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T17:55:09","slug":"road-of-five-churches","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/product\/road-of-five-churches","title":{"rendered":"Road of Five Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>by\u00a0Stephanie Dickinson<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<style>\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t#tab_container_784 {\r\n\toverflow:hidden;\r\n\tdisplay:block;\r\n\twidth:100%;\r\n\tborder:0px solid #ddd;\r\n\tmargin-bottom:30px;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_784 .tab-content{\r\n\tpadding:20px;\r\n\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n\tmargin-top: 0px;\r\n\tbackground-color:#fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tcolor: #000000 !important;\r\n\tfont-size:16px !important;\r\n\tfont-family: Open Sans !important;\r\n\t\r\n\t\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n\t}\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs {\r\n    border-bottom: 0px solid #ddd;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a, #tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a:hover, #tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a:focus {\r\n\tcolor: #000000 !important;\r\n\tcursor: default;\r\n\tbackground-color: #fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a {\r\n    margin-right: 0px !important; \r\n    line-height: 1.42857143 !important;\r\n    border: 1px solid #ece8d2 !important;\r\n    border-radius: 0px 0px 0 0 !important; \r\n\tbackground-color: #fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tcolor: #000000 !important;\r\n\tpadding: 15px 18px 15px 18px !important;\r\n\ttext-decoration: none !important;\r\n\tfont-size: 14px !important;\r\n\ttext-align:center !important;\r\n\tfont-family: Open Sans !important;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:focus {\r\noutline: 0px !important;\r\n}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:before {\r\n\tdisplay:none !important;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:after {\r\n\tdisplay:none !important ;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li{\r\npadding:0px !important ;\r\nmargin:0px;\r\n}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:hover , #tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:focus {\r\n    color: #000000 !important;\r\n    background-color: #fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tborder: 1px solid #ece8d2 !important;\r\n\t\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a .fa{\r\n\r\nmargin-right:5px !important;\r\n\r\nmargin-left:5px !important;\r\n\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n\t\t#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs a{\r\n\t\t\tbackground-image: none;\r\n\t\t\tbackground-position: 0 0;\r\n\t\t\tbackground-repeat: repeat-x;\r\n\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\r\n\r\n#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li {\r\n    float: left;\r\n    margin-bottom: -1px !important;\r\n\tmargin-right:0px !important; \r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n#tab_container_784 .tab-content{\r\noverflow:hidden !important;\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n@media (min-width: 769px) {\r\n\r\n\t#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li{\r\n\t\tfloat:left !important ;\r\n\t\t\t\tmargin-right:-1px !important;\r\n\t\t\t\t\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs{\r\n\t\tfloat:none !important;\r\n\t\tmargin:0px !important;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n\t#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav{\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n@media (max-width: 768px) {\r\n\t#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav{\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n\t.wpsm_nav-tabs li:before{\r\n\t\tdisplay:none !important;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n\t@media (max-width: 768px) {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t.wpsm_nav-tabs{\r\n\t\t\tmargin-left:0px !important;\r\n\t\t\tmargin-right:0px !important; \r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\t#tab_container_784 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li{\r\n\t\t\tfloat:none !important;\r\n\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t}\t\t\t\t<\/style>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"tab_container_784\" >\r\n\t \r\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"wpsm_nav wpsm_nav-tabs\" role=\"tablist\" id=\"myTab_784\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li role=\"presentation\"  class=\"active\"  onclick=\"do_resize()\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#tabs_desc_784_1\" aria-controls=\"tabs_desc_784_1\" role=\"tab\" data-toggle=\"tab\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Overview<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li role=\"presentation\"  onclick=\"do_resize()\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#tabs_desc_784_2\" aria-controls=\"tabs_desc_784_2\" role=\"tab\" data-toggle=\"tab\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Excerpts<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/ul>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t  <!-- Tab panes -->\r\n\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"tab-content\" id=\"tab-content_784\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div role=\"tabpanel\" class=\"tab-pane  in active \" id=\"tabs_desc_784_1\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"sm_text\" style=\"text-align: left\">In this debut collection of short stories told in lush, humid prose the protagonists are all young women, many of them teens, trying to survive the extreme situation. There is Hatchet, accused by her Lakota brethren of being an FBI informer; Trout, a fundamentalist Christian with four children and another on the way; Kimchee, a Korean orphan; and Jasmina, imported from the Balkans for the sex trade. In \u201cFire Maidens, \u201957,\u201d Monarch helps her father sick from the radioactive \u201cdeath dust\u201d kill himself. This is the above ground atomic bomb testing Nevada of the 1950s. (<em>Fish International Fiction Competition<\/em>\u00a0Third Prize Winner). \u201cA Lynching in Stereoscope\u201d is told in two first person accounts.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"sm_text\" style=\"text-align: left\">Ciz and Jelly weave an interlocking narrative of a woman lynched in 1930s Arkansas and a home health aide who discovers that the elderly brother and sister she\u2019s caring for did more than witness the event as children, (selected by Dave Eggers for inclusion in\u00a0<em>Best American 2005 Nonrequired Reading Series<\/em>). In the title story \u201cRoad of Five Churches,\u201d two grifters, a mother and daughter who wander the south selling bogus vacuum sweepers, are revealed to be a grown missing toddler and the woman who abducted her (winner of 2003\u00a0<em>Pearl Fiction Prize<\/em>). \u201cAmiga Mom from Planet Iraq\u201d tells the homecoming of Sgt. Bethany Telecky, a disabled Iraq War Veteran, whose job was detonating bombs in a country wanting to \u201cblow itself up into smaller and smaller bits of dirt and dust.\u201d She loses her left arm and part of her face in an IED explosion (awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts 2006 Fellowship in Fiction). An intense, lively read, often darkly humorous, these stories never fail to lyrically entertain.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-708\" src=\"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Stephanie-Dickinson-headshot.jpg\" alt=\"Stephanie Dickinson\" width=\"200\" height=\"250\" \/><strong>Stephanie Dickinson<\/strong> raised on an Iowa farm, has lived in Oregon, Texas, Louisiana and now New York City, a state unto itself. Her novel\u00a0<em>Half Girl<\/em>\u00a0is published by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.spuytenduyvil.net\/\" target=\"_new\">Spuyten Duyvil<\/a>\u00a0as well as the novella\u00a0<em>Lust Series<\/em>. Her work has appeared in many journals most recently<em>\u00a0Fjords, Nimrod, Hotel Amerika, Weber Studies, Tusculum Review, Lit n Image, and WIP Works In Progress<\/em>. Her story \u201cA Lynching in Stereoscope\u201d was reprinted in\u00a0<em>Best American Nonrequired Reading<\/em>\u00a0and \u201cDalloway and Lucky Seven\u201d and \u201cLove City\u201d in\u00a0<em>New Stories from the South<\/em>. She is the winner of\u00a0<em>New Delta Review\u2019s<\/em>\u00a02011 Matt Clark Fiction prize judged by Susan Straight, and a finalist in the 2012 Starcerone Book Prize for Innovative Fiction. <em>Heat:<\/em>\u00a0<em>An Interview with Jean Seberg<\/em>\u00a0will be published by\u00a0<em>New Michigan Press<\/em>\u00a0in its 2013 chapbook series. Along with Rob Cook she edits\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/skidrowpenthouse.com\/\" target=\"_new\">Skidrow Penthouse<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div role=\"tabpanel\" class=\"tab-pane \" id=\"tabs_desc_784_2\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<P><strong>Amiga Mom from Planet Iraq<\/strong><\/P>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">Upstairs I unbutton my dress coat, pull off my left sleeve first, and then shrug my right arm free. I look at my breasts, two handfuls. Take your overalls off, a voice from long ago, the boy from the next farm. Flat stomach, my mother\u2019s thighs. You have a beautiful body, at least what I can see of it. My belly gives off whiteness, almost a shine like the dust rubbed from a moth. I put on a pair of jean cutoffs, and a Hawkeye Downs teeshirt. You can\u2019t miss the stump. This is the bedroom of my childhood, the south bedroom, and across the hall, my mother\u2019s room, and the attic bedroom where the wind sleeps. Maybe I\u2019ll live like I did as a child. I\u2019ll tramp the roads; I\u2019ll visit the drainage pipe that runs under the gravel. I'll crawl through; I\u2019ll watch rain and after dark I\u2019ll wait for eyes to appear, civet cats and raccoons.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cAre you ready to eat, Bethany?\u201d Mom calls up the stairs.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cGive me a few minutes, Mom.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cSupper, everything\u2019s ready!\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cGo on and eat.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">It\u2019s dark by the time I thump down the stairs and make the turn into the farmhouse kitchen. Mom hasn\u2019t turned on the lights. She looks up from the round oak table where she sits in the gloom. Her laptop waits on the card table in closed position.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cDidn\u2019t you eat?\u201d\u00a0 I ask.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">Her untouched plate of food sits in front of her. \u201cI waited for you.\u201d\u00a0 There are creases on either side of her mouth. \u201cWould you like a candle, Bethany?\u00a0 We could pretend we\u2019re at a restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">She lights the stump of an old red Christmas candle, the flame flickering over the coleslaw, my favorite dish, and pigs-in-a-blanket, hotdogs breaded in Bisquick. A vitamin pill waits in a jar lid beside my plate.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cI made pink lemonade,\u201d she says, rattling farmer matches. \u201cYou were up there so long I didn\u2019t want your ice cubes to melt. I put your drink in the ice box.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">I stand and go to the refrigerator.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cBethany, I\u2019ll get it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cMom, don\u2019t treat me like an invalid.\u201d\u00a0 I\u00a0 grip the refrigerator handle.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">No other person in the world can belong to this refrigerator. Mom washes out margarine tubs and cottage cheese containers and uses them to store leftovers. Every bread crust and hunk of moldy Velveeta, every spoonful of lima beans and hominy grits has its own container. I reach for the pineapple pitcher. Containers spill off the shelf and clatter to the floor, lids open and peas roll. Then I hear the flap of Mom\u2019s flip-flops, the creak of her knees as she kneels beside me, helping to scoop up the peas. Her hands are good at picking up crap. Big and strong, not like a woman\u2019s hands, but not a farmer\u2019s either. Our heads almost bump.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cBethany,\u201d she takes a deep breath, averting her eyes, \u201cyou were born perfect.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u00a0I sit back at the table. I take my first bite of coleslaw.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">Mom scrapes up the peas and dumps them in the sink. \u201cEat,\u201d she says, \u201cand not just slaw.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">The pigs-in-a-blanket taste like burnt newspaper. Mom always fries the hot dogs black before coating them in dough and baking them. She doesn\u2019t look at me when she sits down at the head of our round table. I watch her cut her hot dog into smaller and smaller chunks. Finally, she puts a piece into her mouth.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">\u201cWell, was it worth it?\u201d Mom asks, slowly chewing.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"excerpt\" align=\"justify\">Her question circulates around the kitchen big enough to make thresher dinners in. Eventually it fades into the corners and there\u2019s only the sound of me chewing onions and apple vinegar mixed in with the cabbage. When I finish the whole bowl Mom scoops the coleslaw off her plate and onto mine.<\/p>\r\n<p align=\"justify\"><\/p>\r\n<p align=\"justify\"><span class=\"excerpt\">It\u2019s after midnight when I lug the duffel bag down the stairs. Leaving it by the door, I ease the junk drawer in Mom\u2019s desk open, slip a box of farmer matches into my pocket. The screen door doesn\u2019t make a sound as I step out into the night, but the door to the summer kitchen creaks. Inside, my fingers find the flashlight and set it on a stool, using its misty beam to fill an old Hawaiian Punch can with lawn mower gas.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p align=\"justify\"><span class=\"excerpt\">Stars are out, spilling over the sky, the darkness of the fields making them brighter. I wedge the can between my left elbow and body, and then open the gate to the back pasture, kicking the duffel bag in. The moon washes the barrels where we burn garbage.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p align=\"justify\"><span class=\"excerpt\">I heap the uniforms on the ground, slosh gas over them, and strike a match. The flame makes a whooshing sound. The Friend or Foe Identification square on the shoulder flap catches fire first and then the knee pouch and leg cuff, the rank insignia above the chest pocket. My patrol cap burns in an instant, the hot-weather desert boot is resisting. I remember that famous picture we all studied in high school of a Buddhist monk who burned himself sitting in a lotus position, his fingertips touching as the fire flowed around him. I sit down on the ground cross-legged. How beautiful he looked in the flames like a flower opening. Now sparks fly, metal buttons pop, the forward cargo pockets and sleeves flutter like black fireflies. The bonfire is a meteor hurled to earth and men with angry black eyes telling stories of angels and the Prophet Mohammed coming down from Heaven to lead the fighters.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p align=\"justify\"><span class=\"excerpt\">\u201cBethany,\u201d I hear Mom call. \u201cWhat are you doing out there?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p align=\"justify\"><span class=\"excerpt\">\u201cI\u2019m looking at the stars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p align=\"justify\"><span class=\"excerpt\">The Big Dipper is pouring comets into the ground. I must watch until everything burns.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n <script>\r\n\t\tjQuery(function () {\r\n\t\t\tjQuery('#myTab_784 a:first').tab('show')\r\n\t\t});\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(function(){\r\n\t\t\tvar b=\"fadeIn\";\r\n\t\t\tvar c;\r\n\t\t\tvar a;\r\n\t\t\td(jQuery(\"#myTab_784 a\"),jQuery(\"#tab-content_784\"));function d(e,f,g){\r\n\t\t\t\te.click(function(i){\r\n\t\t\t\t\ti.preventDefault();\r\n\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(this).tab(\"show\");\r\n\t\t\t\t\tvar h=jQuery(this).data(\"easein\");\r\n\t\t\t\t\tif(c){c.removeClass(a);}\r\n\t\t\t\t\tif(h){f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+h);a=h;}\r\n\t\t\t\t\telse{if(g){f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+g);a=g;}else{f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+b);a=b;}}c=f.find(\"div.active\");\r\n\t\t\t\t});\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t});\r\n\t\t\r\n\r\n\t\tfunction do_resize(){\r\n\r\n\t\t\tvar width=jQuery( '.tab-content .tab-pane iframe' ).width();\r\n\t\t\tvar height=jQuery( '.tab-content .tab-pane iframe' ).height();\r\n\r\n\t\t\tvar toggleSize = true;\r\n\t\t\tjQuery('iframe').animate({\r\n\t\t\t    width: toggleSize ? width : 640,\r\n\t\t\t    height: toggleSize ? height : 360\r\n\t\t\t  }, 250);\r\n\r\n\t\t\t  toggleSize = !toggleSize;\r\n\t\t}\r\n\r\n\r\n\t<\/script>\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by\u00a0Stephanie Dickinson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":786,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[29],"product_tag":[50],"class_list":{"0":"post-785","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-fiction","7":"product_tag-stephanie-dickinson","9":"first","10":"instock","11":"shipping-taxable","12":"purchasable","13":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=785"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=785"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}