Seven Days in June

by Tia Williams

“No matter how perilous the journey, it’s never over for true soul mates. Who doesn’t want a connection that burns forever, despite distance, time, and curses?”

I curl up with ‘alone’ like a security blanket. Alone doesn’t care that I don’t shave my legs in the winter. Alone never gets disappointed by me.” Eva sighed. “It’s the best relationship I’ve ever been in.”

By virtue of being a woman, she’s stronger. Girls are given the weight of the world, but nowhere to put it down.

“I admire your ability to write about penises so lyrically. It’s a tricky body part to describe. One wrong adjective, and it’s a tumor.”

this is giving me velvet wrapped steel

I stayed alive for you. But you killed me, anyway.”

Lizette hadn’t thought about this in years, but the memory still infuriated her. How dare that boy, who was clearly to blame, be so upset? She was the mother. She got to be upset. Lizette’s world was falling apart, her boyfriend had just dumped her, and here was this kid, so consumed by love for her daughter that he had to be physically dragged away. Genevieve was a child. She hadn’t even lived yet. Why did she get that kind of adoration, when Lizette had never experienced it? It wasn’t the order of things. It wasn’t fair.

“A tree grows its branches out until it touches the tips of the next closest tree. And they’re linked forever. Because if they’re really close, their roots grow together. They’re so intertwined underneath that no matter what happens above ground, they stay connected.”