At My Gynecologist, the Ghost Gloves Go into the Garbage and the Too-Green Girls Become a Little Less Green

You are here because you are supposed to be. Every year.Black hand to brown thigh. Wide jellied curling wand set and ready against you.Noting your age, 23, she says, So, you’ve never had sex before?Push.Hiss-Hurt-Holler.Good, Click-Crack-Crank. Wait until you’re married. Stretch. Stab. Sting.Just breathe, it’ll be over soon, the nurse coos, but if you breathe, you will continue…

Flaming fiddles, it looks like there’s a roadblock here! If you’d like to finish reading this piece, please buy a subscription—you’ll get access to the entire online archive of F(r)iction.
Exodus Oktavia Brownlow

Exodus Oktavia Brownlow is a writer, budding beekeeper, and a rising seamstress currently residing in the enchanting pine tree forest of Blackhawk, MS. You may find her, and more of her work, at exodusoktaviabrownlow.com.

Koby Griggs

Koby Griggs is a Freelance Illustrator and Background Artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated with a BFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and has worked in the animation industry as a Senior Background Artist for FX’s television series Archer. Whether it’s illustration or background art, Koby strives to create designs that not only aesthetically succeed, but also intrinsically serve a narrative with creativity, efficiency, and elegance.


First Featured In: No. 20, winter 2023

The Bodies Issue

View/Purchase Magazine