Size / / /

Content warning:


They say it all the time:
what a lucky bitch.

But she is not rich
and the things she owns are not hers:
the pink plastic dream home,
pink plastic Cadillac,
pink plastic on-again off-again Ken.
If her eyes slant sideways,
always searching for the next want,
they are only painted on. Fair and unfair
doesn’t mean a thing to toys. Barbie never worked
for her pink plastic Cadillac
(and never asked for it, either)
but it was made to fit only her long legs.

She is leaving the world that is pink with desire,
on her gray cardboard rocket ship.
Her pointed toes land on a surface that is gray too,
black and white paper muddled by water
and glue, a paper-mache moon, lumpy surface
shaped by the seven-year-old hand
of a creator with ambition
that outstrips her skill.

Looking down from the surface of the moon,
Barbie’s sideways eyes fill with millions
of dream homes, pink plastic Cadillacs,
even millions of Kens, all made for her long legs.
If one breaks, a million others will take its place.

The moon was made for her, too,
craters carefully layered on by a child
who thinks she is the only Barbie in the world,
or at least the best—the only Barbie
worthy to walk on the surface of her fragile creation.

Looking up from the surface of the moon,
the child’s eyes fill with
millions of stars.
Like the Cadillac, not made for her,
but someday hers.



R. Weisserman has a Bachelor’s of Science in Creative Writing from Central Michigan University. They have been published in Stuff Magazine, The Great Lakes Review, Jellyfish Whispers, and Erie Tales: 666.
Current Issue
2 Dec 2024

For nine straight miles, the hot-rolled steel rails cut a path through the woods, a metal chain thrown into soft mud. Discarded, rotting railroad ties littered the tracksides, the stench of creosote saturating the forest air until birds no longer frequented the trees.
I didn’t complain about him / being a werewolf / He thought I didn’t know
Dark against the sky of steel / And men gather to get to its top
By: E.M. Linden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents A Cure for Solastalgia by E.M. Linden, read by Jenna Hanchley. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
Issue 25 Nov 2024
Issue 18 Nov 2024
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Issue 21 Oct 2024
By: KT Bryski
Podcast read by: Devin Martin
Issue 14 Oct 2024
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 30 Sep 2024
Issue 23 Sep 2024
By: LeeAnn Perry
Art by: nino
Load More