Bound
Xiwang longed to be like her mother. She rolled up her threadbare sleeves and scowled. Every summer, her skin turned darker than sap under the Shandong sun—nothing like her mother’s jasmine skin. The aunties joked that Xiwang was trapped under a long shadow…
Nurse
Umbrella, purse, keys, and—ah! I pluck the half-empty mug from the nightstand and kiss the rim as thunder vibrates the floorboards. A sip turns into a slosh, and my scrubs turn brown. As lightning blanches everything in sight, my insides convex and I momentarily separate from my breath. That’s when I discover her, crouching atop my uterus, tiny toenails digging into my sigmoid…
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