Saturday 15 June 2024

'Song of the Stepmothers' by Tina S. Zhu

We are the ones whose fates have been sealed. We are the survivors, the ones who will leave you in the woods with nothing but breadcrumbs so we will live through the famine. We will cut off feet so our own daughters have a chance. We aren't entirely heartless. We will ensure your death is painless via poisoned fruit, nothing like how we will die dancing on burning coals when princes and huntsmen come for you. We will make sure you will hear us scream. You will remember the sound, won't you? Because someday you’ll be one of us, too.



Tina S. Zhu writes from New York. Her work has appeared in The Cincinnati Review, The Journal, Lightspeed, Lost Balloon, and other places, and she reviews books for Strange Horizons. You can find her at tinaszhu.com.



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