Chloe Gong

She wished she could press mounds of rich soil into the gaps of her heart, occupying the space until flowers could take root and grow roses.

The stars incline us, they do not bind us.

She had surpassed anger and rage, moved into numbness instead. She had been stoking the fire in her chest for so long that she had not noticed how intently she had been burning, but now the blaze was extinguished, and she found that nothing remained there except a charred space, hollow where her heart was supposed to be.