Clio Velentza

Clio Velentza is from Athens, Greece. She is a winner of “Best Small Fictions 2016”, a Pushcart nominee, and has been long-listed for Wigleaf’s Top 50 2018. Her work has appeared in several literary journals along with some anthologies in both English and Greek, and she’s currently working on a novel. Find her at @clio_v.

A CATALOGUE OF TEMPORARY OBJECTS by Clio Velentza

One by one they sat for their portraits. Littlest ones first. They stopped at the door and undid their braids. They rubbed their hair with vinegar and pinched their cheeks. The oldest ones were fearsome, they didn’t know how to listen anymore. One pricked her finger and spread the blood on her lips. They rolled up their ribbons and stuck them in their shoes. They spat and brushed their eyebrows. One by one. Littlest ones first, these ones still had hope. The photographer had one grey eye and one black. He would close an eye to look at them, and…

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