I’m 20. I’m sitting on a bus on my way home from trauma counselling, and I open up the book on healing my counsellor has lent me. The first page has a graphic description of someone being molested. I slam the book shut, and ball my fists up to my eyes and choke back a […]
It’s like he died. But he hasn’t, he just lives in Woodville. It sounds like a joke, but really, it’s not. He is 24. He moved out, and left a note on the bench. He changed his phone number, and blocked me on Facebook. He ‘allowed’ me to message him via messenger for a while, […]
It was so long ago now, but I remember the weight of his head in the crook of my arm, the elvish kink in the top of his ear, the dreams that flickered across his face. I was overwhelmed with love for him, this tiny child, even if he always woke the moment I laid […]
I checked my phone, shivering in the winter dark. The metal of the bus shelter seat was fridge-like through my tights. The 6.17 was running late. Hopefully there’d still be some seats; it had been a long shift, especially with my break having been swallowed up by helping the new girl. Why are my workmates […]
When I was fifteen, I was voted the third ugliest person at school. Over twenty years have since passed. Rational adult me knows that I’m not ugly; I have had plenty of men find me attractive, as well as a handful of women. I have aged no better or no worse than the bulk of […]