Member-only story
Word for Word: Arm
I’m in a writers’ group that meets on Zoom, though before the pandemic we met in person. Every week, we do a writing prompt: someone gives a page number, and our organizer picks a word from a huge dictionary. We write for five minutes.
This time, the first word selected from the dictionary was “Arkansas,” but we don’t typically use proper nouns. Someone suggested a word one line down, so we ended up with “arm.”
“Don’t go to Arkansas unless you’re armed,” she says, grimacing and clutching the arms of her chair. “When I drove through that state, it felt creepy and there were all these anti-abortion signs along the highway. No idea why any woman would dwell in that state.”
I frown. “Because they can’t afford to move away. Plus they might not be armed with feminist consciousness against the ever-present patriarchy.”
She widens her eyes. “Imagine growing up in a place like that — starting out as a baby in arms.”
“Yes, and harassed by the long arm of the law — not that abortion is illegal, strictly speaking. But I’m sure cannabis is illegal in Arkansas.”
“Extreme patriarchy without cannabis — sounds nightmarish.”
Sirens Call Magazine has accepted my story, “Starless Night,” and will publish it in their upcoming Spring 57zine issue.
Variety Pack published my historical story “Portrait” in their February 3, 2022 issue 7: