1600 Words Once upon a time, I thought I was a girl. Once upon a time, I lived in a castle. Well, it wasn’t really a castle. It was a fortress of sorts, though, and it had something like a moat and something like dragons, or that’s the story we told each other at night, whispered from...
Read MoreI nestle the video camera on its makeshift tripod, carefully centering my daughter’s image. She tucks her hair behind her ear and gives a strained smile. She is sixteen, and that hair is long and golden–kissed light brown and straight; she has the gangly grace only teenagers have, that...
Read MoreBy Shira Lipkin I am — I am — Oh, just ignore it, catches sometimes, just a gear in my throat. Just needs some polishing, maybe descaling, it only hurts when I’m inhaling, which mostly I don’t have to do. I was designed for precision work slim, interchangeable various parts, just not a...
Read MoreWhen I was twenty years old, my best friends and I stepped off the edge of the world. Michael died yesterday. These two things have everything and nothing to do with each other. People aren’t made to do what we did. Or maybe they are, and they just aren’t made to come back. 1. Jay Jay...
Read Moreby Shira Lipkin The notebook is on your nightstand, and it’s all that’s left of her in the thin morning light. It’s tattered—old blue cloth-covered thing, white cardboard showing through at the edges and corners. Looks like it’s ridden in her pocket for some time....
Read More