When We Collided

by Emery Lord

I think Betty keeps words like sugar, darlin’, and honey etched on a pair of dice in her mind. With each customer interaction, she shakes one or both dice to land on a single word or a combo: honey pie, sugar darlin’, doll baby. I like to hear who I am each day. The term of endearment is like a fortune cookie at my favorite Chinese restaurant; it’s not why I go there, but it makes the experience a touch sweeter.

The feeling rises in tiny champagne bubbles, fizzy and sweet and full.

The universe is unfurling its whole self to us, arms wide and beckoning.

that I live with six heartbroken people, one of whom is catatonic.

anthropomorphic

lace is one of the most beautiful fabrics, you know. All those holes and gaps, but it’s still complete somehow—still lovely.”

I simply cannot wait to see who you become.