Envy Is

By Liz deBeer

Envy is tinkering with words day after day, and then, in a surge of confidence, submitting your story, anxiously waiting for weeks only to receive a short, impersonal rejection on the same day your writer friend announces winning first (or even second) place in a prestigious contest. You congratulate her enthusiastically, but, deep down, you feel like the mermaid Ariel, wondering, “When’s it my turn? … Wish I could be part of that world.”

Envy is normal, as is its cousin j...