In "Vera" I try to allude to the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In the poem, Sir Gawain, a knight from King Arthur's court, fails in his chivalric duties and flinches in the face of death. For penance, the supernatural Green Knight requires that Gawain wear, as a sign and reminder of his shortcomings, the green silk which was given to Gawain by Bertilak's wife. Bertilak is the Green Knight in human, non-supernatural, form.
The following link provides a much better and in-depth description for the interested reader:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gawain/
In "Vera", Gavin is equivalent to Gawain (e.g. Prince Valiant haircut, Camelot). Bertille's (or 'B's') role is that of Bertilak, the Green Knight. In the story, I tried to paint 'B' in green as much as possible, to the point that Bertille even dyes her hair green after Vera's death. As for Vera, she loosely acts as the Green Knight's lady.
I also played with Vera's and Nada's names. In the Slavic languages, Vera and Nada mean faith and hope, respectively. Hence, B's daughter's name and the several references to hope and faith throughout the story. The seasons were also used as symbols of life and death (e.g. B and Vera meet in spring, Vera meets Gavin in the spring, Vera and B have their short-lived affair in autumn, Vera falls sick and dies in winter on December 8, 1980, the day that John Lennon was murdered).
At the end of "Vera", when Bertille gives the scarf to Gavin, she essentially absolves him of his sin; nonetheless, the scarf is his to always remind him of his failure. The other memento that Bertille leaves with Gavin is a copy of "Lord Jim" by Conrad, a novel about an officer on a boat who panics and shirks his duties when his ship sinks. In Conrad's story, Lord Jim eventually makes up for his failure in heroic fashion. My hope is for the reader to believe that Gavin will follow a similar path.
The two quotes at the start of the story are purposefully in conflict, challenging the reader. I inserted them as a reminder that two intelligent people can have widely differing stances; therefore, the choices one makes in life can be difficult and confusing. Indeed, it may be impossible and undesirable to live by a single code with regard to choice. For example, although B berates Gavin over his refusal to visit Vera (with B implying that the Confucian view of choice should apply, contrary to Gavin's stance), Bertille and Vera's weekend fling would, perhaps, be better described by Wallace's quote.
All of the characters in "Vera" are young, and, in my mind, that is Gavin's excuse and reason for his immaturity and lack of sense of duty. I wanted to expand upon his character, to make him more human, but had difficulty doing this. The triangle in the story has Vera at it's apex, with Gavin and the narrator having minimal interaction with each other apart from B's pleading with Gavin to visit Vera. Of the songs mentioned in the story, "Bird on the Wire" (Leonard Cohen) is Gavin's song.
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Like a worm on a hook,
like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee.
If I, if I have been unkind,
I hope that you can just let it go by.
If I, if I have been untrue
I hope you know it was never to you.
Like a baby, stillborn,
like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
and by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee.
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch,
he said to me, "You must not ask for so much."
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door,
she cried to me, "Hey, why not ask for more?"
Oh like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
If you've read this far, thank you, and I hope that it was of interest.