Submission Guidelines

Dear Editor:

Please consider my submission for publication. It follows standard format: Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, left-aligned with a ragged right edge.

As ragged as my nerves.

Please note that my paragraphs are properly indented, not justified, but indented like my left orbital bone after that first "accident," which was not justified and which the ER report indicated was "inconsistent with falling in the shower."

My text maintains proper spacing throughout. Two spaces after each period, per your requirements. Like the reliable period of silence after his sixth beer and the predictable rhythm before his first backhand strikes me across my left cheekbone, always the left cheekbone.

My headers are clear and descriptive. Mine read: "Emergency Room Visit #1," "Emergency Room Visit #2," and so on.

I've included detailed notes on each incident, formatted according to your style guide. I’ve been careful to include the date, location, and plausible cover story for each.

Please note the attached content warnings. Trigger warnings include: domestic violence, sexual assault, psychological manipulation, gaslighting, and premeditated acts of self-defense. The latter being the acts which he called “murder” when he realized what was happening.

Track changes have been enabled to document each revision of my story. From "I fell down the stairs" to "He pushed me down the stairs" to "I pushed him down the stairs." Each version equally true in its own way.

Word count: Exactly 750 words, though it took ten years to write them.

Each word, carefully chosen, like the herbs I cultivated in my modest garden. Foxglove for the heart, hemlock for the nerves, nightshade for sleep. Careful, like how I studied their properties in the county library's botanical texts, and tested their potency in careful doses.

Bio note: I am a first-time contributor to your journal. My previous works include police statements, suicide notes, and a carefully crafted alibi, which I wrote longhand each day, read aloud, then burned.

I look forward to your rejection. It wouldn't be my first. Many people have rejected my stories as far too difficult to believe.

Professionally yours, Ms. Anne Nonymous

P.S. Please note that this is an exclusive and likely final submission.

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