Kate Gies
Writer
Foreign Bodies
“ … I first see Laura on my way back from the bathroom. I recognize myself in her instantly. Our backs are bent by the same big cuts the surgeons made on our bellies and our chests and our necks. Our backs pull us down, like we’re trying to say sorry. When the nurse tells me there’s another girl on the ward born without a right ear, I tell her I already know. Laura and I don’t talk about operations or ears. Instead, we cram ourselves into the movie booth in the playroom and watch half-hour cartoons for a quarter. There’s room for just the two of us and our thighs touch and our knees knock together. It doesn’t matter that the cartoons are corny and babyish. It’s enough to be in the booth together. It’s enough to know someone else like us exists …”