Cocoon

by Sabrina Peña Young

Opening the door to a crack addict on a freezing winter's night leads to a dizzying series of events and the most chilling questions about charity, humanity, and the soul in S. Peña Young's controversial short story inspired by the author's harrowing life experiences.

Excerpt:
"What are you doing in this part of town, Elma?"
"Jus'ta meet some friends."
Why ask? Sure, friends. Nice friends with nice powders and needles and rocks. Real nice friends who will kill you for a bag of the good stuff. Friends. Kind of how I'm your friend, your supplier, but not drugs, just food, and a ride or two. I'm a supplier, too.

Unknown Binding

First published April 1, 2001

Reviews

[Sabrina Young]

I wrote this short story in college after spending a year living in inner city Tampa as part of an urban ministry program called the Tampa Urban Project. As idealistic young college students, we tried to transform the bleak world around us through simple relationships with the broken forgotten souls near Ybor City. This story betrays my own conflicting emotions, and for a moment I tried to imagine what if situations had been different. What if...

It's a harsh short story, and not light reading. And sadly based on one woman, who became a friend, but who never was able to escape the darkness of the city.