Untitled
an excerpt

Once upon a time, there was a girl. I start my story out like this: “once upon a time,” because that’s my favorite beginning. And this story, well, of course, it’s about me. So, once upon a time, there was this girl. Anyway, the only thing about starting a story out with “once upon a time” is that you’re going to be expecting a “and they lived happily ever after” at the end. And this is not going to be one of those stories.

I teach Literature at Berryhill High School here in Richmond, Virginia, and I certainly know the definition of a tragedy: a story where the protagonist ends up worse that where he or she started off. I always see my life in stories. Always have. When I was a little girl, it was Sleeping Beauty—I was sure I was secretly the princess living in the exile of Tennessee, who would later meet her prince and rule over all the land.