Jess Simms
On Becoming a Unicorn
You have big hooves to fill. All that talk of magic and beauty, rainbows and purity—it’s a lot to live up to. You’re just a horse with a horn, when it comes down to it, and it’s exhausting to kill the same dream over and over and over. So you make yourself elusive. Retreat to the deep woods, emerge only by moonlight. Fade until you’re vague enough to fit any ideals.
Jess Simms is a co-founder of Scribble House and the managing editor of After Happy Hour Review. They are the author of Cryptid Bits (Last-Picked Books, 2024) and have published stories and essays in Mythaxis, Orca, SLAB, Atlas Obscura, Rinky Dink Press, and elsewhere. Find them online at https://jesssimms.com.