i. There’s a punchline to your story. You haven’t found it yet.
ii. Sometimes you feel empty and cold. As if something sucked the joy out of you and left you in pieces. Your therapist says you’re human, not broken. You never return to your sessions.
iii. They say you use people as easily as toys. Maybe if people wouldn’t use you like a razor blade all the time, your edges would be softer. Your bones wouldn’t be as sharp and lethal to anyone close to you. Your mind wouldn’t be poison. Your words wouldn’t corrode. But people don’t care. So why should you?
iv. You realize you are the villain of this story. Fine. Give them a show. That’s what they pay for in the end.
v. You swallow blood each time the hero punches you. The people cheer. You can hear their laughter like trumpets in your bones. The hero lunges forward. You die with the sweet burn of failure on your tongue.
vi. The hero survives. It’s the punchline of your story.
the ribbon story //// Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber / Louis Jordan Miln, The Purple Mask / Alvin Schwartz, In A Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories / Carmen Maria Machado, The Husband Stitch
