The Motivation Behind his Mendacious Mind

If you have ever been lied to, than you immediately understand how much your heart drops when you find out the cold truth.

         In the short story "Bluffing" by Gail Helgason, a seemingly normal relationship takes a turn for the worst when a couple goes hiking and encounters a grizzly bear. During this head on collision, Gabriella and Liam are faced with two choices: run, or play dead. In this instant, Gabriella orders Liam to "try backing off slowly" but he refuses by taking a moment and then hurriedly "running away as fast as he [can]." The aftermath of Liam’s poor choice of movement resulted in him being hospitalized, leaving Gabriella wondering why he chose to flee. In the beginning of the story, we learn that Liam is a predominant character who has the potential to lie as seamlessly as possible. But, there is one question left unanswered; is Liam really lying to Gabriella? Yes. Throughout this short story Liam is very controlling and seems to lie when he tells the hikers near the lake that it "might not be such a good idea" because they saw an "Elk carcass... and they always come back to the kill." This shows that Liam is a potential, pathological liar, which may push Gabriella further and further away as she notices it more and more. In the end, Liam states that he "wasn't trying to run away" but rather, that he was trying to get "the bear to come after [him] instead of [her]." While Gabriella would like to believe this, she can not because she knows that he has a recent past of avoiding the truth and that pushes Gabriella over the edge. 

The Blatant Release

She smokes because it's the only way to exhale the demons that consume her lungs. A blatant release, though temporary, it remains effective. The stress that was capable of over throwing her right mind, now creases and engulfs her once youthful being. Filled with many tales to tell, there is one, more important that pertains to her decision to fill her lungs with a thick, foreign marinade. As your eyes take a promenade down every deteriorating hill that is etched into her face, you will notice a pair of puckered lips pressing out the steamy remains of the tar that will soon devour her lungs. The sweet smoke curls like fingers which beckon to come closer. And as the ashes drifted from the cigarette, she could feel the weight of a ghost occupying the once empty space between her fingertips. Though aged and dignified, the youth still remains as it courses through the rings placed upon her fingers and pulses outward in a scatter across her brain.