Reverse
Crack the Spine
What if reverse psychology meant we could alive in reverse?
We could not only look back but go back and make better choices for us in the future to where we would return reversed?
Brain teaser? Trick question? Magical realism?
I explored the concept in“Reverse”, a short story published by Crack the Spine Literary Magazine (Issue 251: May 2019). The glorious Crack the Spine has retained its online archives, so here at Shared Madness, I will only provide a teaser.
TRIGGER ALERT (yes, all caps) for substance abuse, drug and/or alcohol abuse, loved ones impacted by drug and/or alcohol abuse and anything else associated with drug and/or alcohol abuse.
Though “Reverse” is fiction, substance abuse is a lived reality for all involved, whether pre or post recovery and all the minutes between and beyond.
For those who decide to read “Reverse” in its entirety at Crack the Spine (and actually, for those who don’t) maybe check out the archives here. A look back through the rear view mirror will reveal a few writers whose names you may know and writing you enjoy.
“I’d tell my therapist the ugly had wiped out every part of me, nothing was left to see. All I want, I’d say, is to go back to before, when my biggest worry was my face freezing and I was someone’s baby girl.
We can take you back and keep you there, she said, and went on to explain a new hypnotherapy program boasting a long-term sobriety rate for both addicts and alcoholics. Positive hypnotic suggestions from my youth—favorite books, music and movies, friends and family times—would reverse back with me to the age I wanted to be, anchoring me there with a post-hypnotic implant tucked deep in the recesses of my unconscious.
My transformation would occur in stages. My therapist and I agreed age sixteen as the best first step reversal.”
Read “Reverse” here. (Swipe the page up to scroll the story).
Thank you to the editors at Crack the Spine for publishing my work. Trivia: I recently discovered the photograph paired with the first publish of “Reverse” is available at the public domain and I am happy to reunite the two.
As always, thank you for reading.
“If you stumble, make it part of the dance.” - River Maria Urke, poet
Sheree, I need Crack the Spine Instructions for Dummies! I can't figure out how to read your story. How do I move it to keep going?
By the way, I had a story in Crack the Spine years ago and then in the anthology, but there is no way to access the story online through the archives and i wonder if that's because of it being in a for-sale anthology. I was kind of looking to read my old story hah.