“The Harvest” (1990)
http://www.pifmagazine.com/1998/09/the-harvest/
“The Harvest,” by Amy Hempel is metafiction about a teenage girl recovering from a traumatic motorcycle accident. The protagonist relays to us her memories of the events leading up to the accident and her recovery experience, which involves never regaining full motor use of her legs without discomfort and noticeable scarring.
The speaker reminds the reader that she knows that how she presents her recollection of the story will affect how she is viewed, telling them that “I leave a lot out when I tell the truth. The same when I write a story.” Throughout the story, readers must make inferences through the dialogue spoken by the people she interacts with to understand how she is dealing with her injuries and how they affect her life. By revealing the circumstances that had actually occurred after the speaker has already told us her story, Hempel showcases how readers judge events that told to them, trying to assign blame and pity felt towards them.
Literary Minimalism Anthology 