I sat on the rickety court bench, filling out the restraining order application, vowing I would someday leave my apartment, walk down the street, and go to the supermarket without fear, no longer trusting in those who proffer, “Hey, why don’t you try online dating? It worked for my cousin!”

Debbie L. Miller is a writer and winner of the 2017 Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction. She dates in beautiful Brooklyn, New York.