Acts of Desperation

by Megan Nolan

The fuzz and numbness of a hangover can carry you through a day without you noticing it too much; you’re too busy tending to aches and thirsts to pay much attention to anything else that might trouble you.

It was sort of amazing seeing men who weren’t particularly attractive but who believed, more or less correctly, that they could have and do whatever they wanted.

He makes people feel that their lives are unique and worthy of interest, which, although true, is something rarely felt by ordinary people.

It’s a peculiar anger, resenting doing something that nobody asked you to do. And it’s a peculiarly impotent sort of anger that domestic labour brings about.

I was here, in the home, safe and useful as a sink.

I had exhausted his reserves, eroded his natural resistance, and now I was finished.

I needed to stay to keep watch over the badness, keep its embers tidy and undangerous.