When the Tides Held the Moon

by Venessa Vida Kelley

“It is the simple truth of every creature with a soul. You are not your body, Benigno.”

“Salt water has healing properties. That is why our tears are made of it. Why should you hold them in?”

I’d gotten so used to being treated like I couldn’t feel pain; I was a machine meant to labor until the gears failed and I became just another punchline to a white man’s joke. But I was one of Río’s seashells in his hands—treasured, precious, apt to shatter if pressed too hard.