“Women! In! Peril!”

The following is the title story from Jessie Ren Marshall’s collection Women! In! Peril! . Marshall is a Japanese-American writer who holds an MFA in Fiction from NYU. Her work has appeared in The New York Times ‘ Modern Love column, Electric Literature, Triquarterly, The New England Review, The Gettysburg Review, Barrelhouse, The Common, ZYZZYVA, Chicago Quarterly Review, and Joyland . She lives with her dogs on Hawai’i Island. Blurt #1—Awake Session 1. What is it like to wake up in deep space? Eh. Not glamorous. After 4 mos in Sleep State I crawled out bent w/crusty eyes & flat hair. Good thing there are zero mirrors Onship. Fun fact: 90% of us signed a petition to demand mirrors but the scientists knew the journey would ruin our bodies & said no mirrors you’ll be too ugly sorry. Blurt #2—Can’t remember what I am supposed to do. Dr. Norton talked about stretching. Stretching & jogging? Grrr. Can barely keep eyes open. Feel sad bc according to scientific projections am now hideous & also brain is swollen. Blurt #3—This is my first Awake Sesh & TBH it’s kind of a letdown? The Sleeping Beauties & I are lucky to be here for sure but let’s get real. All the stuff you thought would be cool Onship is NOT COOL. Like the hall of antigravity is v barfy & the observation deck is super boring bc there aren’t any comets and/or planets out the window. Obv there must be comets and/or planets scattered among the tiny white pinpricks but they are not like whizzing by with flaming tails & visible rings or oceans. Blurt #4—TBH am feeling v lonely & sad. The scientists warned that in our first Awakes we’d be Mourning & Transitioning. They said writing these Blurts might help. On Earth Blurts are public but here they are more like a diary bc it takes so many years for a Blurt to reach home. Also v helpful is the button I can press to fill the air with smelly vapor & a sense of well-being. But if I press […]

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