Synkroniciti is excited to welcome the first of thirty-five artists featured in our new “Broken” issue, writer Amy Arutt from Long Island, New York. Flash fiction opened as a distinct category during the “Broken” submission period and “Cello” is one of three marvelous flash fiction pieces to grace the issue. It is an origin story for an instrument born of purloined wood from a catalpa that grew in a schoolyard. Amy creates wonder and anthropomorphic personality that might find you holding your breath. We realize that joy and music stem from brokenness, are amplified by togetherness, and sometimes require a little petty thievery. The writing is rich and sensual, with a symbolist cast. “Meant to sing, I was hollow, silent, set into a form-fitting fiberglass box lined with rough velvet like a coffin, waiting, waiting, not knowing myself.” Alliteration and word music create a magical, poetic atmosphere.
Read “Cello” in our upcoming September 1st issue, “Broken,” available for pre-order here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Amy Arutt is passionate about stories—stories that are true and those that hold enough truth that you want to believe them. She has written for a daily newspaper and for numerous corporations. Now she writes the stories that matter to her—from old family tales passed down through generations to stories that spring from her imagination. She teaches and is a student with the Writers Studio.
When not writing, she has played viola and cello with the Symphonic Pops of Long Island, and is closely supervised by Jazz, her devoted gray tabby cat.