The Dead Girls Parade by Cailín Frankland

They wear sequins and tutus, stilettos and platform boots. They keep their hair in long tangled braids down their backs, or clipped short at their jawbones or buzzed, their scalps shining silver and bronze in the moonlight. They wear thick eyeliner and magenta lip gloss, hastily applied—they paint flowers on their cheeks, glue their eyebrows down and draw new ones on. Some are bare-faced, wear masks, have no faces at all. They are seven years old, or sixteen, or eighty-two—strangers, sisters, lovers, friends. Bedazzled crutches and wheelchair spikes, skateboards and light-up shoes—this is how they take to the streets.

Together, they dance.

They will be gone by morning—back to their graves and urns, their gutters and riverbeds. They leave little behind—sprinkles of glitter on the pavement, whispers of an aunt or cousin long forgotten—and so the living notice little when they reclaim the sidewalks, turn the daylight dull and dark and grey as only the living can. But some of us—the littlest girls with imaginary friends, the old widows with confessions, the women who have seen shadowed things and flirted with death—we smell the lingering perfume, we hear the echoes of spoken words in raindrops and birdsong. Not yet, but one day, they tell us, one day we will call you home.

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CAILÍN FRANKLAND — Cailín (she/they) is a British-American writer and public health professional based in Baltimore, Maryland. An avid reader and horror aficionado, their work explores themes related to feminism, queerness, disability, chronic illness, neurodivergence, and intergenerational trauma. They live with their spouse, two old lady cats, and a 70-pound pitbull affectionately known as Baby. 

Art by KATIE CONRAD — Katie is an LA based illustrator. By day she creates art for graphic tees, by night she enjoys drawing anything with a narrative (book covers, character sketches, board game art, etc). When not doing art, she mostly watches bad horror movies and is occasionally talked into watching an actually good one. Her portfolio can be viewed at kconrad.myportfolio.com. As for social media, you can find her at instagram.com/see_katie_c, but be prepared for a lot of insufferable cat pics.