TUCKED MY HAIR UNDER my daisy-covered swim cap until my scalp stretched so tight my face hurt. Mom said I had to wear a rubber swim cap because girl hair clogged pool drains. In beginner swim class, mostly I held on to the side in the shallow end, kicked and blew bubbles for a pretty […]
English Only?
IT WAS AUTUMN in suburban Richmond. Cheerful, acute voices overwhelmed the muted sounds of falling leaves. “Córrele Guillermo,” yelled Elena to her toddler. “Te tengo aquí unas galletitas.” Just next to her, a round, middle-aged face surfaced from behind a USA Today. With deepening, fresh wrinkles, he glanced and gruntled, “In this park we only […]
Caroline Leavitt: Why I Write Fiction
WHY DO I WRITE FICTION? Because I’d go mad if I didn’t. Fiction helps me understand the un-understandable. It helps me forgive the unforgivable. I get to be lost in a whole other world and as I learn the language and figure out the terrain, I heal the things that haunt and obsess me. And […]
Spelunking
I FALL DEEP INTO OBLIVION – into something that’s too big to hold me. The history is too big, my color is all wrong and even while I hold the sides I can’t see my hands. Somewhere, there’s a rope. I know it’s there because it’s around my waste. I start to climb. The rocks […]