I took a careful sip of the steaming coffee, the warmth reaching down to my toes. I sighed contentedly, nothing could beat a cup of coffee on a cold winter day. Just then, the barista brought my freshly baked scone and placed it next to my newspaper. She flashed her familiar smile at me, and like everyday, I thanked her and tipped her. Once I had finished the newspaper sudoku, I felt the need to u...

On the rickety table in front of me sat a stout little cake, with a misspelled “charlotte” written in fat squirts of icing. My little sister hopped onto my lap and proudly blurted, “look charchar, I wrote your name in icing!” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she missed several letters. Our mother muffled a laugh behind us, before she started to sing an elegant happy birthday, which was pro...

I danced and leapt across the stage, sweat slicking my skin, and a triumphant smile painting my face. As I bowed graciously, the crowd erupted with applause. I laughed and thanked the excited audience, and then proceeded to calmly walk into the curtained back stage. The moment the spotlight left my still smiling face, I fell to my knees. The built up nerves hit me like a bus. I let out a shaky bre...

“Mama?”

“Yes honey?” I replied distractedly.

“What’s the Birds and Bees?”

I knew this day was coming, yet still like any mother I was startled.

“Maya honey, let’s go sit on the couch okay?”

Once maya had curled into a little ball on the armchair, I took a deep breath and asked her: “what do you think the birds and the bees are?

“Sarah told me that it’s when a girl and a boy go and have spec...

The psychic’s tent was made of large drapes, held together by mismatched shoelaces. I turned to Sarah intent on shooting her a look of ‘seriously?’ But before I could voice my complaints, she gripped my hand, sticky from corndogs, and dragged me through the dangling strings of beads. The interior was a different world than the crowded, child-filled, carnival just outside. In here, the air was stil...