Magic

ARIELLE SPENCE

Ever since I was a child, my deepest desire has been to discover that, like the protagonists of so many of the stories I enjoyed, I had magic powers. With magic, I could thwart my bullies, right the world’s injustices, and transform my body into a shape that matched how I felt inside. For years, I would lull myself to sleep with fantasies about stepping through a portal into a magic otherworld populated with unicorns and dragons. As I grew up, I struggled with the realization that, as much as I believed, I could not will magic into existence.

However, what my younger self could have never anticipated was just how magical a regular-old-mortal life could be. When we put out the call for this issue, I stated my hope that the writers and artists who submitted their work would surprise me with their interpretations of ‘magic.’ They did not disappoint—and in the process, showed us how moments of everyday magic can change the world.

In Emily Urquhart’s breathtaking true story about her ectopic pregnancy (pg. 28), we see how each being is like a drop of water that creates endless ripples. Natasha Ramoutar uses tea leaves to see visions of the past (pg. 65); Kess Costales reconfigures the idea of ‘love at first sight’ (pg. 8); and jaye simpson offers a visceral look at the transformative power of grief (pg. 26).

In the final piece of the issue (pg. 106), Ruth Daniell writes, “Through no fairy intercession that I know of,/ you are young and beautiful, and I am too,/ and strawberry juice runs in rivulets down our wrists.” Dear reader, I hope this issue will similarly make you revel in the present moment and dare to dream of what the world could be.