'There Is No Escape'
Written by Samantha Sewell, published 2024.
Emma closes a door. Willie flirts with his neighbor. Joany contemplates water shoes. Raquel awaits the death of her parents. Pip pines for her cousin. Nadine measures proportions. Me, and you, and everyone else chain-smoke cigarettes while someone searches for an escape.
There Is No Escape. paints a series of intimate portraits, which reflect the age-old saying, "Wherever you go, there you are." This anthology chronicles the lives of distinct characters as they undergo varying states of desiring escape from their lives. The stories capitalize on the paralyzing nature of inescapability in love, loss, aging, and the passing of time. By overlapping in theme, but standing alone in content, these stories showcase the oddly relatable aspects of life despite the lone quality of experience.