This story is only three pages long, a collection of eight enigmatic mini narratives. Here are some examples of the way some of them begin: “A young woman lives alone on an island. […] There’s a reason she chooses to live this way.” “A man approaches a girl of about twelve as she’s waiting for the school bus.” “A nineteen-year-old man falls in love with a man who lives as a woman.” The title does a lot of heavy lifting: right from the start we know that these stories cannot be freely shared. Nothing is overtly spelled out but there is a strong undertow of pain, regret and shame. Indirectly, the writer describes her community by telling us what people around her do not want to hear about.
First published in Prototype 5, reprinted in Best British Short Stories 2024, Salt, 2024
A Personal Anthology 