First Place Winner of Voyage’s Best Chapters Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Soman Chainani . CHAPTER ONE It started at the incense shop, or before then, or after. I forget. School let out for winter break the week before. Atlanta was frost-bitten like the alley strays Ms. Angie fed after closing time, like I […]

Originally published in the summer 2021 issue of Sixfold . January 1998  Dad begins his transformation of the house weeks before Charlie’s return. Little by little, the photos reappear. Pictures of Charlie are displayed on the coffee table in the den, next to our bowl of foam fruit. Our coat rack is moved out of […]

Finalist in Voyage’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers . Thalia,             The Athenian traitor will dine with us tomorrow night. I’m eager to hear him speak. You tease me for my interest in Athens, but Laconia can learn a lot from the world beyond our mountain walls. They say Alcibiades is a master of […]

Third Place Winner of Voyage’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers judged by NYT Bestselling Author J. Elle Content warning: discussions and descriptions of sexual assault, victim shaming and blaming. . Once upon a time, there was a town. It couldn’t be seen by everyone. It appeared in glimpses in the shadows, in flashes of […]

Second Place Winner of Voyage’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers judged by NYT Bestselling Author J. Elle . Chapter One . “Are you a virgin?” I’m not sure what I was expecting when my future roommate, Georgie Wendell, demanded we FaceTime after sliding into my DMs, but this certainly wasn’t it. “I’m sorry, what?” […]

First Place Winner of Voyage’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers judged by NYT Bestselling Author J. Elle Content Warning: mention of eating disorders (specifically anorexia), attempted suicide, self-harm, and general mental instability. . CHAPTER 1 Once I dreamt of men with skulls instead of faces, men who would swallow me alive. Wrenching my arms, […]

I swallow the teeth. Dream logic tells me to aim for my stomach, trusting the acid to burn through enamel and bone. But several of the molars are sucked down the wrong, fleshy tube to my lungs. The tip of a canine presses against the fragile membrane of my right lung as I gasp. The […]

Winner of Voyage’s 2021 Book-Pitch First Chapters Contest Chapter Thirty: Free? ⚘ Journal Entry 9: Prompt: What have you learned about yourself from being in anger management? Monday, May 9th, 6 AM My mama once said, these streets don’t hold our memories, we do. Just because something is gone doesn’t mean it ever left. Pieces […]

We sit and listen as your favorite album plays in the car. The singer has a thick, solid voice, backed by heavy drum beats and soaring guitar, punchy bass. You tell me that next time, I can choose. I want to hold your hand so badly. In the dark, nobody will see us. You don’t […]

Third Place Winner of Voyage’s Summer 2021 First Chapters Contest judged by Bestselling Author Sona Charaipotra . The spoon stopped at the tip of my mouth when he stormed in. He didn’t knock or nothing, just came in like he does and the look on his face meant something bad came down. Something bad always […]

Second Place Winner of Voyage’s Summer 2021 First Chapters Contest judged by Bestselling Author Sona Charaipotra Content Warning: Child death . “Death has nothing to do with going away. The sun sets. The moon sets. But they are not gone.” —Rumi . The dead are loud tonight. More than usual I should say, since loud […]

First Place Winner of Voyage’s Summer 2021 First Chapters Contest judged by Bestselling Author Sona Charaipotra Content warning: grief, drowning, death . prologue / a second like two lifetimes What I really want to do is practice toe loops with Tara, since we got our skates sharpened when we went downtown to the movies last […]