Tag Archives: Secrets

When My Secrets Were No Longer Mine by Jean Romano

Photo of young girl's hands holding pen and open notebook with doodle inside
 

One day after school, I stepped into my room and immediately felt that something was wrong. My eyes darted to the bed, and my heart stopped. The mattress was gone. My diary—the one I’d hidden so carefully beneath it—was missing too. I rushed to the balcony, where laundry usually fluttered on a frayed line. There it was: my palm tree mattress, spread out in the sun like a giant pancake. But my diary was nowhere to be found. Someone had discovered it. And deep down, I knew exactly who. Then my father appeared from another … Continue reading When My Secrets Were No Longer Mine by Jean Romano

Sequins by Gina Willner-Pardo

multi-colored sequins
 

Risa Eccles, thirty-nine weeks pregnant, sat in her car, furious at Dr. LaSalle for being an asshole, at Paul for having the kind of job that made him seem like a degenerate, at herself for thinking that having a baby might be fun. She watched people walking in and out of the clinic. Some of them held crying toddlers; others—mostly elderly—grasped canes, walkers, or other people’s arms. She thought, Everyone who comes here needs something desperately. It reminded her of church. When she was sure she wouldn’t cry, she called Paul. “The baby’s fine,” she … Continue reading Sequins by Gina Willner-Pardo