Days of Distraction

by Alexandra Chang

Why do I laugh, then? Out of discomfort. Better yet, defense. I add it to my short list of survival skills. If you make people believe you’re strong and comfortable enough to laugh in the face of danger, maybe then they won’t eat you alive.

My brother says everyone’s families are fucked up in their own way. Ours is nothing special. What a wise stance for being twenty years old, I think. When I ask if his future family will be fucked up, he says oh yeah, it for sure would be, which is exactly why he’s not having one.

Outside, it is freezing and the landscape is gray and lifeless. Children of the East Coast must understand mortality better than those on the West.