Content warning: suicide references . It was happening again: water, creeping under the door. It was slick and moved like oil, unnatural. Mr. Brady didn’t notice. He faced Ara with his back to the door, smirking. Ara tried not to look at the water. She tried to focus on the grocery store manager, his questions, […]
The things we keep on our refrigerator door come and go—shopping lists, Christmas cards, reminders, and notes. But there is one picture that has been there for years now, a picture of my twin sister Dahlia at age ten. In the photo, she is beaming in a bright blue dress, a medallion hanging around her […]
Finalist in Voyage’s Best Chapters Contest Content warning: parental abuse . Part One Venice, California 2002 At the boardwalk, the world’s a hazy blue. The seagulls are already squawking, bothering everyone who camped out the night before. Soon, bodies will emerge from makeshift tents, asking for money. C’mon, man! they’ll say when I tell them […]
Third Place Winner of Voyage’s Best Chapters Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Soman Chainani . ONE Calculus or boyfriend? It was a no-brainer. My first major calculus test of the year was in the morning, but I threw the textbook aside so I could sneak out of the house to meet my popular, jock […]
Second Place Winner of Voyage’s Best Chapters Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Soman Chainani . CHAPTER TWELVE “The green tea-macchiato ice cream,” I say, “with cherries.” “That sounds ridiculous.” Raj flashes me a grin. “Can I have some?” “You want me to share my ice cream?” My eyebrows lift, and I hope my tone […]
First Place Winner of Voyage’s Best Chapters Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Soman Chainani . CHAPTER ONE It started at the incense shop, or before then, or after. I forget. School let out for winter break the week before. Atlanta was frost-bitten like the alley strays Ms. Angie fed after closing time, like I […]
Originally published in the summer 2021 issue of Sixfold . January 1998 Dad begins his transformation of the house weeks before Charlie’s return. Little by little, the photos reappear. Pictures of Charlie are displayed on the coffee table in the den, next to our bowl of foam fruit. Our coat rack is moved out of […]
Finalist in Voyage’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers . Thalia, The Athenian traitor will dine with us tomorrow night. I’m eager to hear him speak. You tease me for my interest in Athens, but Laconia can learn a lot from the world beyond our mountain walls. They say Alcibiades is a master of […]
Third Place Winner of Voyage’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers judged by NYT Bestselling Author J. Elle Content warning: discussions and descriptions of sexual assault, victim shaming and blaming. . Once upon a time, there was a town. It couldn’t be seen by everyone. It appeared in glimpses in the shadows, in flashes of […]
Second Place Winner of Voyage’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers judged by NYT Bestselling Author J. Elle . Chapter One . “Are you a virgin?” I’m not sure what I was expecting when my future roommate, Georgie Wendell, demanded we FaceTime after sliding into my DMs, but this certainly wasn’t it. “I’m sorry, what?” […]
First Place Winner of Voyage’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers judged by NYT Bestselling Author J. Elle Content Warning: mention of eating disorders (specifically anorexia), attempted suicide, self-harm, and general mental instability. . CHAPTER 1 Once I dreamt of men with skulls instead of faces, men who would swallow me alive. Wrenching my arms, […]
I swallow the teeth. Dream logic tells me to aim for my stomach, trusting the acid to burn through enamel and bone. But several of the molars are sucked down the wrong, fleshy tube to my lungs. The tip of a canine presses against the fragile membrane of my right lung as I gasp. The […]