Trigger Warning

PEOPLE OF A SENSITIVE NATURE ARE ADVISED THAT THE FOLLOWING EXTRACTS EXPLORE FAMILY DYSFUNCTION AND ABUSE ISSUES, PLUS ADDITIONAL WARNING ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT

Zero Gravity

Excerpt for 17 November, 2021

<chapter> Two continued

Thanks for seeing me,” Hilary said. Your friend said you had a run-in with Champagne-Bottle-Man. I’m so sorry.
         Without a word, Penelope pushed back a swathe of chestnut hair and pulled down her pale pink satin chemise. One breast revealed a nipple that had been stitched back into place, still red and raw in the candlelight. Bite marks and bruising marred otherwise alabaster skin. Hilary looked up to see both fear and defiance in Penelope’s face.
         “We’re going to find him.” Hilary stated the words as fact. She was angry that the police had not done more. Sex for money often meant trouble, and the police were known to turn a blind eye. They left brothels to mind their own business, and looked the other way when there were “incidents”. Too much paperwork to bother with the city’s seamy underbelly. Drugs and weapons drew attention, but violence toward working girls was par for the course.  
         Hilary was determined to turn things around. These women deserved better, never mind their occupation. She would write the story of her life to save them. 
         She took the chair Penelope offered, and organised her questions in her head.  

-Gayle J. Greenlea.

YOU’RE THE DEAD TO ME

Third week – <strong>Flourishing</strong> – Day One

-Paul Brookes

Bios And Links

-Gayle J. Greenlea

is an American-Australian poet and counselor for survivors of sexual and gender-related violence. Her poem, Wonderland”, received the Australian Poetry Prod Award in 2011. She shortlisted and longlisted for the Fish Poetry Prize in 2013, and debuted her first novel, Zero Gravity, at the KGB Literary Bar in Manhattan in 2016. Her work has been published in St. Julian Press, Rebelle Society, A Time to Speak, Headline Poetry and Press, The Wombwell Rainbow, Fevers of the Mind, Kalonopia and The Australian Health Review.