Hummus and pita chips. White bread. Sometimes fries. Non-sticky fruits.

Experts warn: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

The boy still grows. Sometimes grey circles under his eyes.

He is taller than his twin, but doctors don’t know why.

Bribes fail.  Nothing tempts him.

At night we wonder, how do bodies work?

Gabriella Brand’s fiction, poetry and essays appear in a variety of international publications including Alchemy Spoon (England), Shuili (India), Cordite (Australia) and Room Magazine (Canada). Her flash fiction can be found in Blink Ink, Moonpark Review and elsewhere. She lives outside New Haven and teaches languages in the OLLI program at the University of Connecticut.