Irene Doukas Behrman studies creative writing at Marylhurst University near Portland, Oregon and recently cofounded an online literary journal called Pom Pom. She's a graduate of the Independent Publishing Resource Center's Certificate Program in Independent Publishing (Fiction/Nonfiction track) and has been published by M Review.
3 PROSE PIECES by Irene Doukas Behrman
Holy Grail
The salesperson’s pimples are visible despite thick layers of makeup. She applies liquid foundation to my roommate’s face, using a flat-topped brush and circular motions. This stuff is my personal holy grail, she says, touching her own chin with a long-nailed finger. Provides full coverage. She resumes working on my roommate, who says she doesn’t want full coverage. Perfect, says the salesperson. This goes on as heavy or as light as you want it to.
Seventeen
On the Fung Wah bus, I asked Annie what our roles in the group were. Ivy’s the party girl, said Annie. You’re quirky, and a reader. I don’t remember what she said about her own role.
The Contest Winner
The contest winner has never won a contest before. She didn’t expect to win -- actually, she’d forgotten that she’d even entered her work. She discovers that she’s won first place right after her boyfriend proposes to her. She isn’t entirely certain that she wants to continue writing, but will accept the prize money and attend the conference anyway, just in case.
Maybe I want to model, she tells her fiancé. She does have perfect skin.