Honorable Mention in Gooseberry Pie’s First Writing Contest April 2024
by Melissa Llanes Brownlee
Calla Lilies strewn across my doorstep, their white petals cradling long yellow stamen. A basket of cat toys and an empty blanket left at my back door for the three-legged kitten I picked up at the shelter. A red box filled with a strawberry pie, my favorite, shoved through my mail slot, oozing onto my carpet. A rock thrown through my window, glass shattering my sleep. Posters of Have you seen me? under my face, pinned to bulletin boards, taped to streetlights. No one double taking as I tear them down, wondering how you got the perfect picture of me, my eyes soft, my expression open, my mouth slipping into a smile.
Melissa Llanes Brownlee, a native Hawaiian writer living in Japan, has work forthcoming in The Threepenny Review. She tweets @lumchanmfa and talks story at melissallanesbrownlee.com.
