That Monday was the worst day of Christina’s life. The rebel inside her felt it might actually be the best, but the rest of her didn’t see it that way. It started when her manager summoned her into his office. The time was a couple of minutes to nine. She’d barely had a moment to take off her spring jacket, the last birthday present from Justin before they’d stopped giving each other presents. “I have to let you go,” her manager told her matter-of-factly, his steely eye

As she dressed for church, Nikki studied her reflection in the mirror and imagined cutting all her hair off, smearing her face with lipstick, and bashing her head against the glass until it broke. She opened the vanity drawer. Inside she stared at a pair of scissors. Her hand floated over them before she closed the drawer and finished applying the rest of her makeup. A lapsed Catholic, she rarely went to church anymore. She never went anywhere  except work. Every day she w

Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated. -- Terry Tempest Williams I dreamed about prison again. I hate dreaming about prison. The last time I dreamed of prison I woke up and immediately started crying. In the dream, I was sentenced for years and I would only be able to see my