Butterfly

Content Note: sexual violence, miscarriage, obsessive attraction.

Butterfly is a short work of fiction told entirely through therapy sessions between Caroline, a school principal, and her therapist, Dr. Malaya. 

Caroline talks about her obsession with Vanessa, a graduate teaching assistant at her school—a fixation she can't act on within the institution that introduced then, and can't abandon either. The story moves through attraction, boundary erosion, sexual violence, and grief. Caroline's earlier losses—a miscarriage, a partner who left her in Bali, parents who needed only each other—surface not as explanations but as pressure that was already there before Vanessa walked in.

The photographs throughout are original. 

Digital edition: 36-page PDF, $7

Physical edition: 5x5" x 8.5", laser-printed on copy paper, linen-thread hand-stitched binding, 2 signatures. Edition of 6, numbered and initialed. $25. 

For physical copies, please email mbismonte [at] gmail [dot] com or DM @mbismonte on Instagram.