Gestures by Megan Roberts art by Chris Samia Beth has not really done her hair in a month. She pulls her blow-dryer out from under the sink, but the cord wrapped around its neck looks too difficult to unravel. She uses a plastic clip instead, brown or black, to twist her hair up and away. This looked semi-done before. Now it looks like exactly what it is. Beth is thirty-three. The dog has somehow gotten old. Shelby, the four-year-old, has been constipated for two weeks. She plays with her stuffed kitty cat, saying, "Mr. Kitty can't poop Mommy." Shelby feeds the cat plastic carrots from her kitchen set. Last night, Beth's husband held Shelby down while Beth gave her an enema. These were the moments you evaluated your life, with shit on your shoulder. She hosed herself off in the backyard then jumped into the algae-coated pool. Her brother has fallen in love. He's twenty-six and writes for a newspaper. The girl is young with long red hair that she ties up into elaborate twists and turns. Last time they came to dinner Beth caught herself obsessively touching her little blonde twist. It felt like dried spaghetti beside this girl's red flames. Blake, the one-year-old, says "da-da-da-da" over and over again. Her husband asks for a cold beer. She clips her hair again, twisting tight against her scalp. Her brother looks up at her, rolls his eyes at this husband asking such things of his sister. He squeezes his girlfriend's hand as if to say: I would never ask such a thing of you. He doesn't know jack. Blake has gotten bug bites all over his ankles and little legs. They swell and she gives him a dose of Benadryl. Beth thinks of its drowsy effects and bedtime coming soon. His chunky thighs are the sweetest meat she has ever seen. He said thank you for the first time today. At night she shuts the door and takes long baths. Her husband knows to use the bathroom down the hall during these soaks. When she emerges her fingers are small prunes, but her hair lies long, flat, and wet against her slender shoulders. She separates the sheets from the bed and slides into them as if entering a cave in the rain. The old dog tries with enthusiasm to hop into bed with her. He misses and puts his paws up on the mattress to ask for help. Beth admires this gesture more than anything. Read the interview. Megan Robert's fiction has appeared in 971Menu, The News & Observer, Our Stories, and The Raleigh Quarterly. Her poem "Blackberries" was published in Albatross, a journal. She's received an honorable mention in the Brenda L. Smart Fiction Contest and Poetry Contest, and has been a two-time finalist in this contest's short-short category. Recently she was awarded N.C. State's Academy of American Poets Prize. Chris Samia is an independent photographer with an eye on the artsy side of the lens, tending to specialize in the nature and photographic art areas of photography. Operating out of the Triad area of North Carolina, most of his photographic art has been shot in, around, and outside of the United States. A collection of his portraits have been published in the collection of short stories, Inside the Treacle Well by Gemma June Howell based out of the United Kingdom. You can check out his portfolio at www.csamiaphotography.com. All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003-2012 by its authors. Issue Thirty-One (March 28, 2011): Kapha by Joanne Avallon «» Wound Glue by Michael Cooper «» Natural by Julie Draper «» Everyday There is So Much about Elephants by Timothy Gager «» Renewables by Abe Gaustad «» We Walk Away, the Three of Us by Tracy Gonzalez «» Other Sons by Casey Hannan «» The Mystery of Water by Zin Kenter «» The Lives of Alligators by Robert Kloss «» A Turkey Baster Is Just Like a Penis by Rachel Levy «» Three Bodies by Mike Meginnis «» God, Two Girls by Adeena Reitberger «» Gestures by Megan Roberts «» Moons by Ethel Rohan «» The Man with the Ridiculously Huge Coupon by Rolli «» A Walk in the Woods by Robert Schladale «» The Way We Speak Now by Angi Becker Stevens «» Interviews: Joanne Avallon «» Michael Cooper «» Julie Draper «» Timothy Gager «» Abe Gaustad «» Tracy Gonzalez «» Casey Hannan «» Zin Kenter «» Robert Kloss «» Rachel Levy «» Mike Meginnis «» Adeena Reitberger «» Megan Roberts «» Ethel Rohan «» Rolli «» Robert Schladale «» Angi Becker Stevens «» Cover Art "Lady Gaga Dada" by Marty D. Ison «» Letter From the Editors Interested in subscribing to SmokeLong's weekly newsletter? Click here. An email should be created. Send it as is, and you'll be subscribed. If the link does not work for you, send an email to imailsrv@smokelong.com with Subscribe slq-info in the body of the email (no subject is necessary). You'll receive updates detailing the release of new issues, new reading periods, contests, etc. We do not make our mail list available to anyone else.