“They say that every adventure starts with a step. A singular footfall, and you’re on your way, ready to take on the world. I disagree. I believe that an adventure begins with the decision to take one, and that this is not easy, but the single most difficult part of the entire journey.”

“I often pretended to fall asleep on family road trips. That’s when my mom told the best stories, reminiscing with my dad about their life in Vietnam.”

“I can’t remember when I realized I was trans exactly,

But it was probably sometime during squid season.”

“The smell of new books and fresh ink,

Sentences that start with, “I thought of you earlier today…”

Early mornings before the sun’s up,”

“There came

a scent of pine.

The house howled with the wind.”

“If anyone could shapeshift, it’d be them, transitioning effortlessly from boy to girl and back again, eventually landing somewhere in the muted middle.”

“Preheat the oven to 425° (so the dragon will cook all the way through).”

“If you were to see me, even though you cannot, you would think I’m fifteen. I cannot remember being any younger, and I will never grow any older. I have been fifteen for centuries. Centuries, time I do not measure. For what is time to me if I am forever fifteen?”

Our black and brown students have been telling us how they’re feeling, right now.

“As she walks in the room everyone stops to admire her messy afro / She is a walking beauty / Her radiant skin glows from across the room?

“I live my life in flashes of light. From my creation in a dark, dreary factory, I’ve only seen the world in small glimpses.”

“Repeatedly, a melancholic night descends, as star lights come on one by one. My face pales, my hands ice-cold, because it’s time for me to take the blood of a stranger.”

“My mom and dad were born on the same day. I remember we would celebrate their birthday like it was their last birthday on earth.”

“I sat there back against my wall, pillow in hand to cover the sounds of my broken cries, drenched in sweat and tears of hurt.”

“They treat me like a wild anima / Is that even legal?”

“I usually smell like back yard dirt, often I taste like tire rubber, / If I’m dribbled I sound like door knocks and I feel like a / smooth rubber with a plethora of tiny bumps.”

Video. By Adokorac “Tutu” Oryem, Telling Room Author

“The reason I have hot droplets running down my cheek from my eyes is the same for why I wanted it to happen.”

“The long blades of grass sway / As the wind roams. / Vibrant flowers begin to bloom / As the sun shows its face again.”

“There’s something about my brother that scares me. / He’s black and a man.”