8,443 Miles from Home

Issue 7 | Thresholds

Quick Work: Short Takes on Epic Truths

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.

Photo of a round mud house with a thatched roof and a mango tree in front.
Photo by Cynthia Rossi

8,443 Miles from Home

by Cynthia Rossi

Heat rises from the ground, wrapping my ankles, climbing my back. I’m twenty-three, a newly minted Peace Corps volunteer, standing at the edge of Makunta village in Zambia. Preparation dissolves the moment I enter. I feel seen more clearly than I can see.

This is my dream, I tell myself.

Greetings pass in the local tongue, but my confidence thins. Mud homes, lake air, dried fish, watchful eyes. My guide hugs me good-bye, the truck pulling dust and certainty away. The chieftainess takes my hand. We walk towards my next two years, my skin releasing doubt like pollen in light.

About the Writer

Cynthia Rossi, a recent Bay Path MFA graduate, wrote this piece in the Multiplicity Studio class during the 2026 spring semester.