DEAR READER,

Sometimes medusas aren’t laughing: sometimes we’re lingering. Moments lodge themselves deep in the crevices of our brains, nostalgia snuggled between the muscle memories of riding a bike and making friendship bracelets. We search this comfort out like a bloodhound, nose to the horizon snuffling out a whiff of home. Loitering is a form of appreciating, enraptured by the scene, knuckles white, don’t take me away just yet. We linger in the warmth of relationships, the weightlessness of youth, the energy of nature. Lingering forms feelings of home that we aren’t quite ready to tear ourselves away from yet.

If something in this world causes you to linger, pick up a pen and submit to our zine next year. In the meantime, submit your polished literary fiction, poetry, and art to The Laughing Medusa—our 2023 spring publication—by emailing bclaughingmedusa@gmail.com.

cover art: Her by Maddi Condon (she/her)