I began writing fiction during the pandemic last year. Fiction has been a way for me to inhabit other worlds in ways that bring me more deeply into a reality beyond myself. This story is dedicated to my mom and many other women who have taught me about spiritual strength and feeling worthy enough to stand up for ourselves. One source of inspiration was the story in Daniel 3:1-97, which contains “the Canticle of the Three Children” and is prayed often by many Catholics in the Breviary. I hope this story can be an inspiration for others in their discernment and sense of true beauty, including our scars and the most vulnerable parts of ourselves.
