Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

by Kylie Lee Baker

Truth: What are you most afraid of? Cora set down the book and walked to the edge. She cannot remember the name of the city anymore, but she remembers the skyscrapers in the distance, three of them like syringes, a foamy bath of treetops below. Truth: Where are you most afraid of going? Cora’s mom had just become the fourth wife of a cult leader. Cora’s dad had just remarried in China. Cora didn’t know Delilah that well yet, but Delilah’s mama wouldn’t let Cora go anywhere alone because she was too young. Everyone in Cora’s family had examined her like an old sweater off the clearance rack and politely said “No, thank you,” hung her back up for someone else to take. Dare: jump. Cora leaned forward. A breeze rushed up from between the trees, birds shivering into the gray sky, and Cora wanted to join them, to fly until she found somewhere brighter, warmer. She would later learn that this was just another intrusive thought, but in that moment, it felt realer than anything in her so-called life.