right arrow / space / right side of screen for next slide left arrow / left side of screen for previous slide author’s note: this was hard for me to write. it’s based on the outline of a true story, although most details in this story are fictional. i wanted to capture the feeling of a difficult conversation, while also illustrating that it’s often necessary to step away from the discussion if the issue isn’t resolving itself. whenever we imagine conflicts, we see them as two-sided, with one side being right and the other side being wrong. in this piece, i wanted to add a third perspective: that of the bystander.
as per usual, all names of people and places are fictional word count: 1,996 words thumbnail + slides are from google images thank you to the swc hosts for managing the swc community, and to the judges/panelists for assisting with the writing competition! thank you to you, for reading this! and to my irl “emma”: even though you didn’t pick me up mid-conversation like i wrote in this story, you’ve still been my constant in the middle of this situation. thank you for motivating me to finally make the right decisions for myself, and for being there while i did so.
