The Guitarist by Will Donnelly art by Robinson Accola “If you had to give up either socks or gloves," I asked Celia last year, "which would you sacrifice?" "If I had to?" she said. We watched a moth tap against a bank's lighted clock. Finally, she looked at me. "Socks. I could still wear shoes against the cold." "If you could fly to Mars," I said, "but you had to stay forever, would you go?" Celia is a year older than I am and significantly taller. She fell on a patch of ice in March and broke her tailbone. "And I don't even have a tail," she said, and that was all it took for me to fall in love. If only I could make her feel the same. Still I queried. "Okay: meat or vegetables, you have to stop eating one of the two. Which do you forego?" Now I'm taking lessons in classical guitar from a man called Senhor Pereira, and there is something in his voice that tells me he is good at what he does. My progress is slow, but as I learn to hook my fingers on the strings, to pluck and tap against the balsam, Senhor Pereira clucks his tongue and hums along. "What do you want from the guitar?" he asked the day I met him. "To make a girl fall in love with me." He shook his head. "This," he said, "I cannot do." "Well, I guess I'll settle for Flamenco." "Good," said Senhor Pereira. "This is how we hold the guitar against our knee—" "Senhor Pereira," I interrupted, "what is the purpose of music?" He looked up to the ceiling. "I don't know," he said after a moment. "Really, I do not know." I do, though. This I know the answer to, but I'm not telling Celia or Senhor Pereira. This I know, but I'm not telling anyone at all. All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003-2010 by its authors.
	Will Donnelly is a Ph.D. student in literature and creative writing at the University of Houston in Texas, where he lives and teaches English. He holds an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and his fiction has appeared previously in The Potomac Review, Hobart, Quick Fiction, and Jump! Magazine. Read the interview. Robinson Accola creates artwork for SmokeLong Quarterly as needed.
	Issue Twenty-Six (September 28, 2009): The Teaching Assistant and the Math Professor by Shaindel Beers «» Ask for This by Myfanwy Collins «» Arrows by Lydia Copeland «» Pregnant With Peanut Butter by Michael Czyzniejewski «» How to Disappear Completely by Nadine Darling «» The Guitarist by Will Donnelly «» Prague by Kathy Fish «» Record Albums by Sherrie Flick «» Cooped by Alyson Foster «» Eye by Foust «» Grendel by Steven Gullion «» First Husband by Tiff Holland «» They Marched Into Fields by Jamie Iredell «» Port of Spain by Beverly A. Jackson «» Nobody Like You by Jeff Landon «» Little Girls by Tara Laskowski «» Office at Night by Pamela Painter «» So Long by Ellen Parker «» Quiet Things by Lauren M. Spencer «» My Girlfriend Leaves the Atmosphere by Angi Becker Stevens «» In Julie's Place by S. A. Tranter «» Blue-Suited Henchman, Kicked Into Shark Tank by Kevin Wilson «» 2 / 8 by Joseph Young «» Interviews: Shaindel Beers «» Myfanwy Collins «» Lydia Copeland «» Michael Czyzniejewski «» Nadine Darling «» Will Donnelly «» Kathy Fish «» Sherrie Flick «» Alyson Foster «» Foust «» Steven Gullion «» Tiff Holland «» Jamie Iredell «» Beverly A. Jackson «» Jeff Landon «» Tara Laskowski «» Pamela Painter «» Ellen Parker «» Lauren M. Spencer «» Angi Becker Stevens «» S. A. Tranter «» Joseph Young «» Cover Art "Birds of Paradise" by Marty D. Ison «» Letter From the Editor