An excerpt from: Leila and the Second Skin

Leila was the only human being in a sea full of robots
And she was running
Always running.

Every night,
She dreamed a telling dream—

She was chased by a monster
She hid in the closet
And the monster found her there
Huddling…

Hiding behind clothes
Behind boxes
Behind everything

Before she went outside,
Leila put on her second skin.

Her second skin was a special suit
that protected her from the outside world.
It zipped up alongside her insides,
All close and tight.

It looked just like her first skin

Only thicker.

Laurana never fit in very well. During the yanking of ponytails, the measuring of busts, all up through high school when she wanted to be a cheerleader and found herself taking AP physics. She often felt serious and preferred to be alone. Laurana never fit in very well. All through engineering school, through graduate school, with all the guys and none of the boyfriends. Laurana never fit in very well. Until…Laurana found out she was an artist.

To purchase the book, visit here.

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Editor: Tanya L. Markul

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