The Purge by Carrie McKinney (Indiana, 21)

          She opens the trunk of her car. Trash bags tumble down, coming untied. I glimpse girls’
clothes, probably juniors’ sizes, a flower-print backpack, sandals, and headphones. She crams the
bags full again, her eyes narrowed, her face drawn. Her hair’s disheveled. Graying. She reeks of
sweat. Seeing me staring at her, she flips the bird, rattling off a string of swearwords.
​          Jerk.
​          She climbs back into her car and peels out of the parking lot, her tires screeching on the
hot pavement. I haul her crap inside, all twenty-eight bags of donations, muttering to myself. The
job done, I grab today’s newspaper. Reckless driver kills seventeen-year-old girl, the headline
shouts.
​          There’s a picture of the victim.
​          She looks just like that woman.

Carrie McKinney has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She is currently an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. She has also had work published in Apricity Magazine. When not writing, Carrie can be found cross-stitching or walking her Beagle mix.