Volume 3, Issue 10, October 2022
Garrett Elms
Pages 41-50
Gardenia
Is it okay to give credit to an unknown person? Is there value in taking credit for the success of your own hard work? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, the narrator is on a road trip and decides to stop in for breakfast at a small-town diner in Gardenia. Like most breakfast diners, the local community is there. He strikes up a conversation with an older gentleman sitting next to him and learns about Elroy Goddard, the most powerful, wealthiest, and probably the kindest, man in their small town. He owns practically everything, and has helped out practically everyone in town at one point or another. Many of the streets and parks are named after him as well. The waiter says he’s her “uncle,” of a sort, and even helped her get the job. However, after additional questioning it becomes clear nobody has actually ever seen Elroy, and his actions and support of the town are more indirect than they seemed at first. The narrator leaves town wondering if Elroy is real at all.