Meet Justin Sangermano - dipity Community Spotlight Q&A Interview no. 13
learn more about writer Justin Sangermano's work through dipity's global interview monthly spotlight feature
Introduction
Justin Sangermano is a recent college graduate from the University of Cincinnati. His passion for writing comes with a desire to inspire change and critical thought about the world through a SyFy/fantasy lens. More of Justin's literary contributions can be found in Vine Leaves Press, Progenitor Art & Literary Journal, WayWords, and more.
Reimbursement of Time by Justin Sangermano
I impatiently tap my foot in line, feeling the loss of each precious second like sand granules in rushing waves. I’m trying to get a refund on my drink at Drigutan Juices—my banana smoothie had far too much of a tart taste to it—but the cashier is having a particularly hard time today. Is she new or something? She JUST made my drink and she’s acting like she doesn’t remember me. The tart taste is probably because an ingredient was expired—she should have seen the expiration dates—I don’t know what the problem is.
“How much longer?” I ask, continuing to lean over the counter to get a glimpse of the stone tablet she was ringing me up on.
She lifts my drink into the light and gives it a 360. “Ma’am, please give me some
patience—”
“I have been patient with you all afternoon!” I snap. “Is there any way we can hurry this up now?”
“Ma’am, if I could do this faster, I’d be doing it,” she says.
She slams the drink back on the counter so hard that the lid pops off and the yellow slush spills across her hand.
“Don’t ask me to help you clean that up!” I snap.
“I wasn’t going to,” the cashier says damn near through gritted teeth.
“I don’t think I like your tone!” I say before taking a deep breath.
She throws the cup in the trash bin beneath her and then pulls out a rag. “I made your drink too with too much tart, I spilled it, and I am sorry for my tone,” she says. “I’ll get you reimbursed for your drink and we can both be on our—”
“I want to be reimbursed for more than just the money I spent on the drink,” I snap, sure that my pale skin is turning red with rage. “I want my time back for this needlessly long interaction.”
She sighs and throws up her hand in defeat. “Give me your card.”
I withdraw from my purse the metallic-looking playing card. When I hand it to her, it displays the number 43. She takes it, holds it between both palms and gives it a strong sturdy shake. She then hands it back to me and the number has been changed to 44.
“Oh, come on! I’ve been here for more than an hour!” I snap.
“And you’ll be here for even longer if you keep this up,” snaps the cashier. “And that’s not time that I’ll reimburse you for.”
An hour after my smoothie debacle, I’m at the hospital with a bouquet. My mother and father are there too and embrace me as soon as they see me. It’s my grandmom- she’s sick. She has been for a while, and there’s nothing we can afford to do for her. Today is the last day.
At least, it would be, if her card wasn’t able to buy her some time. Even though my Grandmom is triple my age, the number on her card isn’t much higher than mine; 62. My mom hands the doctor the card. He doesn’t smile or thank her. He enters my grandmom’s hospital room with us behind him. She looks worse than she did yesterday, but that’s been the case every day for months in a row now. Her white hair has been falling out and now it's mostly just straggly strands. Her leathery dry skin is loose and cracked all over. She is coughing up a fit as we enter, and I can hear the fluid in her lungs as she struggles to breathe.
The doctor holds his hand over her and closes his eyes. The lights flicker in the room. Youth washes over my grandmom like a river of rejuvenation. Her skin tightens up and fills with color. Wrinkles all but fade. Her wisps of white hair turn into long blonde streaks that even fill in the bald spots. She looks beautiful and full of life and above all, refreshed. She springs up from the bed and jumps up and down for the first, second, and third time in years. She giggles with youthful excitement and I stifle a tear.
“Alright, I’ll see you all back here in sixty-two hours,” says the doctor. “You’re free to go for now.”
We thank the doctor as he leaves. Then my grandmom, who now looks younger than all three of us, embraces us tightly.
“Let’s get out of here,” says Grandmom with a smile. “I’m starving and I only have sixty hours to waste!”
She smiles and catches my eye. We link arms like we used to when I was a child who refused to hold her hand even when we were around chariots. We stride out of the hospital room with smiles on our faces. Sure, we’ll be back in sixty-two hours with a woman more frail than the one we had walked in on, but for the next two and a half days, my grandmom would get to re-experience her youth and take back all the time that was wasted by other’s mistakes.
Q: What is the backstory of this short story?
“Reimbursement of Time” is one of many stories set on Driguta, a fictional world of my creation full of magic and monsters and home to the gods Keckon and Neethia. This story plays with the idea of ‘making up for lost time’ as if you could be reimbursed for such a thing. In the world of this story (Driguta), they have come up with a way to momentarily clear you of all ailments at the end of your life, but only for the amount of time that your designated card says was wasted by others during your life.
Q: What was your most recent publication?
My most recent publication was called “Our King is a Shapeshifter.” It was published by Progenitor Art & Literary Journal. The basic premise is that an immortal king has been the dictator of a country for hundreds of years, but he’s a shapeshifter, so every few years, he returns with a new appearance. He lets the people vote on these appearances and the people have found comfort in the illusion of choice that comes with the ability to invoke ‘change’, even if it is only in their leader’s physical appearance.
Q: Where can others find more of your work?
Teleportation: The Plight of Instantaneous Travel in East Fork: A Journal of the Arts
Dream Car. Perfect Reality in WayWords Issue no. 12: Nightmares
“Our King is a Shapeshifter” (set in Driguta, the same world as “Reimbursement of Time”) which is coming soon in the Progenitor Art & Literary Journal.
Q: What else do you do outside of the writing or poetry community? or What else are you working on or excited about in the future? Any fun hobbies?
A major focus of mine as of late has been finding representation for my fantasy/dystopian novel Gatekeeper: Cross-Worlds. Outside of writing, I love going to concerts and listening to music at dangerous volumes!
Q: When did you begin writing? OR What or who sparked and inspired your writing journey?
I’ve been writing since I was a child. In elementary school, I would write and draw my own comics, drawing only stick figures because that’s the extent of my drawing skills. By middle school, I had written a full-length novel, which has since tragically been lost on an old hard drive. I’ve never lost my passion for writing, largely because I can’t turn off the storytelling part of my brain. I write because I have to share these stories and ideas with the world; they can’t just stay in my head!
Q: What advice would you give aspiring poets, authors, or fellow writers in the community?
Don’t worry about the quality of your writing until the second draft. That first draft is just to get something on paper. It can’t really be ‘bad’ if its only purpose is to exist outside of our head.
Q: What are you currently reading? OR What book(s) would you recommend to others right now?
I am currently reading The Blood Trials (2022) by N. E. Davenport and I just finished The Mountain in the Sea (2023) by Ray Nayler. Both are masterpieces that I can’t recommend highly enough.
Q: What was the last movie or TV show you watched or recommend others see in the community?
The Boys has to be my favorite show of all time, not because of the superhero action, but because of the way it uses the superhero genre to satirize the modern world and politics—and it does it (in my opinion, at least) so well every time. Literally counting down the days for season 4!
Q: Which poets, artists, or writers inspire you?
Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games. Not only did she write an amazing trilogy (and prequel) that had everyone on the edge of their seats, but she also encouraged an entire generation of readers to critically think about power structures and cruelty in the world, all through a sci-fi/dystopian lens. I can only aspire to make half the effort she undeniably had on the way my generation, who grew up on those books, see the world and fight for justice.
Q: If you were stuck on the moon with anyone or could pick your space flight partner who would it be ( it could be someone from the past or present time)?
I would go to the moon with my three cats and they’d all be in matching purple space outfits. I know that’s technically three space flight partners, but they come as a set.
Dying Suns - Blacktop Forest
Q: What's one of your favorite poems in existence?
“First They Came” by Martin Niemöller.
First They Came
First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me
~ Martin Niemöller
Source: (https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/).
To Check Out More of Justin Sangermano’s Work
Read some of his work mentioned above in this Q&A and of course you can search more online as well!
Please Def Follow:
@justinsangermano
on Instagram
@jsang_author
on TikTok
Any other thoughts, comments, or shares after reading the interview?
[Interview Processed By VFORROW]
Thank you so much, Justin Sangermano, for sharing and submitting to Dipity Lit Mag! ~ Jazz Marie Kaur (Vevna Forrow)
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