Becca Shaley
Bio
Stories (5)
Filter by community
Preventable. Runner-Up in History Would’ve Burned This Page Challenge. Content Warning.
“Mary, where are you scurrying off to?” Mama stood at the stove stirring a stock pot of soup with a wooden spoon, resigned to the chaos of the younger children racing a toy car back and forth across the kitchen table to cheers and gasps. Her shoulders were slumped. If not for the rain, she‘d have sent them outside.
By Becca Shaley7 months ago in History
Sickos. Runner-Up in Pride Under Pressure Challenge.
I’ve never celebrated Pride. As I type this, I know that I never will. There’s a bravery to proclaiming your identity in any way, whether it’s as big as announcing to the world that you’re a member of the queer community, or daring to wear that neon orange trench coat that mocks you with snickers of ”traffic cone” each time you try it on. That coat never makes it past the bedroom door, living in the back of the closet month after month.
By Becca Shaley7 months ago in Pride
Compelled
Have I been awake long? The minutes and hours blend together in the dark. Moonlight seeps in through the worn blue sheet that hangs from the window frame, held up by a thumbtack in each corner. It isn’t enough light to make out the shade of baby blue on the walls, but I can close my eyes and see it. I know this room better than my own, better than the freckles on his back that I reach out and touch with my forefinger. I trace up and down his spine, over the pine tree tattoo on his shoulder that has started to fade. Its lines are broken, blue ink bleeding into his pale skin. There’s a comfort to this place, familiar even in the dark.
By Becca Shaley4 years ago in Fiction
