“Your Dad Took His Own Life This Morning”
“Your dad took his own life this morning”
Words I never thought I would hear coming out of my mom’s mouth …
“Your dad took his own life this morning”
Words I never thought I would hear coming out of my mom’s mouth …
if your absence was no longer a choice maybe the rest of our family would stop looking at me like a chipped-tooth smile they can all see right through like i am the daughter of the knot in the skin of a family tree that is otherwise smooth so i spend my time trying to […]
Continue ReadingTall. Elegant. Southern. Gentlemanly. Kind. Principled. These are the words that come to mind when I think of my stepdad. Late. The man was always late. Always. Never on time for anything but church. And he was a surgeon, so my mother had a handy and believable excuse for his tardiness, but he rarely had […]
Continue ReadingI saw death for the first time when I was 8. She was beautiful and isolated, floating upside down in a fish tank at a Chinese restaurant. I remember her red eyes, so hollow and glassy staring at me as I pressed my nose against the glass. A blue light illuminated her in the tank, […]
Continue Reading“Shower caddy and soap—” “Check.” “Desk light, pillowcases, notebooks—” “Got it.” “Socks, glasses case, portable radio, my quote mugs—” “All present.” “Okay…” Harper Little released a flap on the last cardboard box and watched it settle into place. Looking up, she grinned at her mother. “What?” Vivian Little rolled a felt-tip pen between her thumb […]
Continue Readingfrom the perspective of your daughter, twelve years from now I was Daddy’s girl until I found out that Daddy had another girl and another girl and another girl and he rotated through them like revolving doors in the winter. I was Daddy’s girl but then Daddy started sleeping with someone half his age. I […]
Continue ReadingWhen they asked Lucy’s father what word he would use to describe Lucy, he said “phantasmagorical.” He had trouble pronouncing the word, so it came out jumbled, messy, and illiterate, which ironically perfectly suited his thoughts on Lucy. He loved her, yes; he’d seen galaxies when he’d held her for the first time in that […]
Continue ReadingThese pieces started out as peace offerings for my parents. They are modelled after my baby pictures from the year 1999. I decided to take a monochromatic, pop-art-style approach for a retro-esque effect. For these, I used my brother’s leftover sheets of drawing paper and a blue coloring pen that I found lurking in the […]
Continue ReadingJust take the mountain curves as tightly to the inside and as fast as surface conditions permit and the road’s edge or yellow center line allow my father was saying, concentrating on my desire to learn all the secrets of driving. What he meant to tell me, or so I imagine, was stay alert, that […]
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