My mother was a fighter. It was all she ever did. She spent three days in labour fighting to give birth to me and spent the rest of her life fighting for mine. All Mother ever did was struggle. I don’t remember a moment when her hands were not [...]

“Look at your face,” they say. “Look how it holds lifetimes of people who loved each other. Their loving is nestled between the gaps of your teeth and cradled in the rooks of your ears. It swings across the tips of your lashes.” I look at my [...]

“Wen, wen”, the baby cried out again. It’s 3:00 am in the morning and she had not closed her eyes for a second. She had fed him, cooed him and even sang for him but he won’t stop crying. The dangling of the keys brought her back to reality. Now, [...]

She said she’d never had sober sex, and at the time we laughed, but six years later I wondered where she was in what they used to call Yugoslavia. I’d seen photos from Bled and Ljubljana, her hair longer and blonder than ever, her men all [...]

I watch as Maria sleeps, snoring gently. I look at her then, kiss her cheek gently. She stirs. I would have gone for the lips, but she sleeps with her mouth slightly open as if in half-surprise; snoring. I have been plotting something for her [...]

The sun peered over his shoulder as he shuffled downhill toward me. I jogged in place, frowning as my sweat cooled. He’d slap one foot down, then drag the other after it, and filled the shrinking gap between us with the smell of beery vomit. A [...]

Life under the bridge was all he had known. He could not recall when he had lived like this. He would ask himself. How did I get here? My children want to see snow. Why isn’t there snow? When did I get here? This was life under the bridge. The [...]

The first time I knew you had changed shone from your response to the teacher’s question: Why is the reproductive system the most interesting topic in Biology? Why are both Intelligence and Stupidity hereditary? You hadn’t questioned a question [...]

There are only two times that peoples’ bodies become heavy. When they fall asleep, and when they die. But for Kevin, there was a third. Cerebral palsy had robbed him of speech and movement. Lilly took a long look at Kevin, the way she had always [...]

Suzy climbed out of her bed wincing at the jolt of pain that exploded through her body when her feet made contact with the ground. Aided by the wall, she dragged herself into the shower. Shivering under the cold water, she let her thoughts roam [...]

I flitted around preparing for my surprise birthday/engagement party. My boyfriend of two years was going to propose. I was floating to the sky from the pleasure, but a bleak shroud of grief held me down. My reflection in the mirror testified [...]

I hear someone’s footsteps outside the door before the door opens. From the assault of disinfectant on my nose, I know it is Mrs. Abigail, our cleaner. “What are you doing?” she asks. Something metallic moans on the floor as she drags it. [...]