SCAN MAGAZINE SPRING 2022
THE
CHANGELING IN
Fraudville (Short story) Written by Benjamin Greennagel Illustrated by Isabella Tallman-Jones
The midday light is low and oppressive as I trek up a hill covered in yellowing grass. From here, the main drag of Fraudville is visible — a strip of archaic shops, a library and a drugstore, clustered around a railroad track that tears through the landscape like a black stitch. Scents of summer creep forward, promising wet grass and honeysuckle. I toss my hair over my shoulder and fan my neck. This is my first summer as a girl, and it’s hard to figure out what to wear. I’ve always had trouble with human clothing, but summer makes it all the more difficult. I’ve worn the same pink sundress every day for the last month. At the very top of the hill, I come upon Lorelei’s house and make my way into the backyard, where there is a small garage, anchored to the earth by a thick shroud of dark green ivy. Paint peels off the front door in crisp flecks of white, baked off after years in the brutal summer sun. The window panes rattle when I knock.
