Stories

400 Words content. True personal stories that might or might not also appear in the print magazine.

Folding Corners

Posted to Compulsions on 27 April 2008, with no comments so far.

by Shya—Age 30—New York City I do this thing my friends call “folding corners.” I didn’t name it. It’s when I take a piece of fabric, usually the edge of a sleeve or that lovely little stitching right where a zipper is sewn on to the coat, or maybe even, OK, I’ll take the tip [...]

Andrew, 28, Orlando

Posted to Autobiographies on 12 April 2008, with 1 comment so far.

From 400 Words, Issue 1 by Andrew—Age 26—Orlando, FL This guy, see, or should we say a boy then, was born already distracted. With bright eyes and a quiet mouth, he watched and watched. Leaves made good friends, which unnerved his parents such that they made him do things like play baseball. He was forced [...]

Mary, 46, Olympia

Posted to Autobiographies on 7 April 2008, with 2 comments so far.

From 400 Words, Issue 1 by Mary—Age 46—Olympia, WA I was born into a sad person’s middle class white home of angry people and miserable immigrant grandparents who loved me more than my own weird mother did. Always a feminist before I could clearly say the letter “˜f,’ I started seriously writing in second grade [...]

Annabel, 24, Edinburgh

Posted to Autobiographies on 5 April 2008, with no comments so far.

by Annabel—Age 24—Edinburgh, Scotland Mom was a conceptual artist and Dad a drummer in punk bands. Once he played a gig dressed only in boxers and tinfoil, which fell off as he played. He stopped playing when I was two, and started taking me to social work school with him on the Green Line. Mom [...]