The Very Nice Box

by Laura Blackett

Men got to be this way, Ava thought, constantly in the midst of forgiving themselves.

Sometimes we use secrets to experience the authentic versions of ourselves that we fear will be judged harshly by others.

What individuals collected throughout their career reflected their personality in some way,

“It’s just that every time I talk to straight women, I feel like there’s a wall of glass between us. Like we’re leading vaguely parallel lives but we will never understand one another.

“I just missed you. That’s the only thing I accomplished out there. Missing you.”

“We fall in love with the best version of someone and we break up with the worst. It’s a slow decline, and it either plateaus at a tolerable level and you stay together fifty years or you leave.