With blank faces, unblinking beneath the overhead lights, only red-heart lips, perpetually sealed, they stand tall in their usefulness. The ones who don dresses need no legs, a metal pole will suffice. Their arms and hands are angled into confident poses. Finger to chin in thought about which skirt would look best for the party. Magenta or periwinkle? Life is full of tough decisions like that. Another points forward, as in a conversation with a friend. She exclaims how much she enjoys her new dishwasher, and the other has found a new stain remover. It works wonders, eliminating her biggest challenges. At the end of the day, the shoppers with their bag-weighted arms, tails of receipt paper, and designer scents that linger in their wake have exited through the whoosh of the doors. The manager, with aching feet and kids to feed at home, cuts the voiceless music, flicks off the lights, locks up with a sigh. Silence, for just a minute. Then the mannequins blink, unlock their angled arms, arch their backs with a collective groan. They slouch shoulders, release stomachs from being held in so tight, for so long. With arms linked, they form a circle, temples touching. They whisper—plot an escape.
Lauren Oertel (she/her) is a writer, editor, and community organizer based in Austin, Texas. She is a writing workshop facilitator certified in the Amherst Writers & Artists method. Her work has been published in Black Fox Literary, The Westchester Review, Gemini Magazine, The Sun Magazine, and more. She has been a winner and finalist in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction contests with The Letter Review, Writer’s Digest, Prime Number Magazine, and others. Lauren is the coauthor of the book Inside Out: A Texas Prisons Poetry Story, and her debut full-length poetry collection, Scars & Other Luxuries, is forthcoming with Finishing Line Press in November.
