Closer
Christine Herzer

 

 

Naked photos of me got published. The fat period.

 

The article appeared in a newly founded online-magazine known for its support of members of the no-boundaries-sect. My best friend was quoted as saying that I had had sex with an Indian guru who never died in 1991 and that because of her husband's interest in bottles he had cooked soup for me often in the cell I owned in their kitchen

 

My dentist confirmed that I had all my teeth replaced in 2002 and paid cash for it. The butcher confirmed my eating disorder. France Telecom released files showing that I had called my father asking for emotional support and that I had received what I had asked for. My therapist's carpet was quoted as saying that evidence had been found to support a conspiracy involving women in denial and that I had experienced sex and love and sometimes both at the same time. My mother confessed her worst nightmare had been to have raised a sober daughter as she would have been willing to expand her suffering

 

The article alongside the photographs was sent to the world for prior approval. Unfortunately the world could not be found. Fortunately the French government returned the envelope to my best friend who sent me an email asking if I was okay with her having no boundaries. For some reason this made me cry and I reacted as if exposed to Jimmy Walker. My best friend acknowledged the depth of my hurt without taking responsibility for it. Being a certified therapist and a woman with no boundaries herself she did her best to not repeat her enabling habits and refused to let me be a victim

 

 

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Christine Herzer's work is forthcoming or has appeared in Fence, American Letters & Commentary, elimae, The New York Quarterly, H_NGM_N, Blue & Yellow Dog, Wood Coin, Platform Magazine [India], Upstairs at Duroc [France], Open Letters Monthly, Fogged Clarity & elsewhere. She received her MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars.