Issue 7 | Thresholds

Here, in 100 words or fewer, writers make quick work of compelling true stories, in the lead-up to Multiplicity‘s 2026 Spring/Summer issue, THRESHOLDS.

Message Received

by Lisa Ferrazzano

The hospice nurse prepares syringes while we hover, paralyzed in blinkless waiting. Later, we stand and stretch, eat pale hunks of melon from a deli container.

Mom’s death rattle is a battle cry (Dad told her to fight!). No one told her she is here to die.

Prayers and candles in churches hold her, invisible arms straining against spent lungs. No one told them to let go.

I text Mom’s friends: It’s time. I hit send. Mom’s breaths slow, a ceiling fan switched off but still turning.

Her eyes flash open, her lips move silently, then—message received—she rests.

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About the Writer

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