Advantage: I am a student of the Earth, reading old folklore about which herbs help rheumatism, investigating bird species and their usual habitat ranges. Understanding patterns doesn’t require anything but knowledge and a good seat from which to observe.
Disadvantage: Three legs should be better than two, but when the spare is a cane it’s more of a wounded gazelle situation than anything. If the zombies are fast, if the survival-crazed humans are faster, then it’s lights out on the apocalypse.
Advantage: When you want stories for the campfire, tales of happier times and far-away fantasy lands, you need a writer who knows how to spin a web, or at least a reader who can recall the stories of others in vibrant ways.
Disadvantage: When pharmacy caches run empty, the pain will tear me apart from the inside, no alien invasion necessary, as I fall into debilitating aches, bleeding out, a mind full of fog and scattered thoughts and almost-memories.
Advantage: I am no stranger to sacrifice, to biding my time, to knowing the intentions of others and the storm starting to brew in the eye when they first decide you are “Other,” a synonym for “expendable.”
Disadvantage: I am no stranger to sacrifice, to biding my time, to knowing the intentions of others and the storm starting to brew in the eye when they first decide you are “Other,” a synonym for “expendable.”
Audrey T. Carroll is a Queens, NYC native and the author of Queen of Pentacles (Choose the Sword Press, 2016). Her work has been published or is forthcoming in peculiar, Glass Poetry, Vagabond City, So to Speak, and others. She can be found at audreytcarrollwrites.weebly.com and @AudreyTCarroll on Twitter.