Interesting Facts about Space

by Emily R. Austin

I walk home angry. Why do I keep being nonconsensually tied up in other people’s extramarital affairs?

I take my keys out of the ignition and hold them in my fist like a weapon. I grit my teeth and whisper, “Can you tie them in a knot? Can you tie them in a bow?” I get out of my car and rush to the front door. I unlock it with the same vigor I would if someone followed me home. I make sure the door is bolted before I speed through the hall to my apartment.

“I’m supposed to face that we’re in space? I’m supposed to face that people get raped and murdered?”

You can’t kill yourself in modern ovens. Well, I’m sure you could. You could kill yourself with anything if you tried hard enough. When we sit there, though, I feel like we are moths drawn to the memory of what an oven can do to sad women.

I spent a lot of time growing up trying to seem normal. Sometimes I worry I neglected doing the internal work most people do while they’re developing; I was too preoccupied camouflaging. I think I might be stunted because of it. I think I missed a step.