Second-place winner of the inaugural Levar Burton Reads x FIYAH short fiction contest. Chelle’s friend, Wenqian, has everything Chelle doesn’t. A slim figure, pale skin, and most notably the affection of her longtime friend Preston. Like the ocean waves she calls home, Chelle feels transparent and overflowing all at once. So when she’s given body oil that promises to fix all of her mistakes, she’ll use as much as it takes to reach perfection; no matter how much it hurts.

Momma always says, “You’re my railroad daughter, Pearl.”
But the townfolk always called me “bastard,” and when I grew curves, they called me “bitch.”

Set in Nebraska in the 1880s, reclusive Pearl and her mother are rachers, but they’re used to being called witches. When two strangers from the East come into town, she discovers what magic she can actually do. (content warnings: miscarriage, animal death)