The Orphanage by the Lake

by Daniel G. Miller

You know how people say, “That woman’s got a body that won’t quit”? Well, mine does, and it quit right after I graduated from college.

I’ve made a million of these calls, and I’ve never gotten comfortable making them. My mom says that’s the millennial in me.

But part of being a young woman in an older man’s world is picking your battles, and this is one I won’t win. Sometimes you have to eat shit.

I’ve found that if you want to enjoy a meal, it’s nice to have pants with little to no waistband. Tight elastic is your enemy.

But if you disrespect me and I have to swallow it, that’s a soul crusher.

New York never seems so lonely as when you’re afraid. Every face, every sound, every shadow spooks you to the core.