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    Alexandra Kessler

    Alexandra Kessler is an MFA candidate in Fiction at Brookyn College. She received her BA from The Kratz Center for Creative Writing at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD. She was awarded two summer fellowships from the Kratz Center for Creative Writing in 2013 and 2015, the 2014 Lizette Woodworth Reese Award in Fiction, naming her Goucher’s “Writer of the Year,” and the 2016 Ross Feld Award. Her work has been published by Fiddleblack Press, Spartan Lit, Driftwood Press, and others. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

    Alexandra Kessler

    Short Story

    Mary, Mary

    Alexandra Kessler·
    When Mary was executed, the first cut of the ax missed her neck and hit the back of her head. The second cut hit her neck, but didn’t slice all the way through. A stubborn strip of flesh held her together until the executioner sawed through it. The doctor placed his hand on the top of my head. Be careful with this, he said. There’s really not so much holding it all together. The next day, I packed up and left school. I knew that at some point I’d have to go back and finish, either this school or a different one, but it didn't matter. I already knew it would never feel over.