Sunday Stories: “Girl Scout”

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Girl Scout
by Elise Jeanmaire

Evie matched with Brad. His face was skinny, softly bearded, and kind. There was no brooding, flexing, signs of a fraught relationship with masculinity. Brad’s hair was perfectly coiffed, like a soft wave, poised to deliver a surfer back to the beach safely. In every photo, no matter what, his hair remained perfectly shaped. On top of a mountain, coiffed. Playing frisbee with his friends, coiffed. Attending a work conference, coiffed. At the barbershop, dazzlingly coiffed. What kind of miracle hair product was he using? Evie needed answers! The last picture she scanned was of Brad on a beach with his shirt off. His body was solid and hairless, which was nice because she wasn’t sure if she was ready to handle body hair. She wasn’t even sure she was ready for a man. 

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Trash Alchemy & Wasteland Portals: A Conversation with David Leo Rice

David Leo Rice

At the start of the pandemic, Arundhati Roy, the author who introduced much of my country to the Booker Prize, declared that “historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.” After having lived four years inside this “next world” I wonder if we can say with certainty what kind of a portal 2020 was? Has whatever was supposed to have metamorphosed done so?

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