Synkroniciti is thrilled to welcome back English writer and poet Sara Collie, who first appeared in our Labyrinth issue (2:3), this time with an insightful and moving memoir essay, “Remembering Aurora.” Adolescence is a tumultuous time. Some of us are lucky to find friends who share our interests, build our confidence and create spaces where we can practice being ourselves. These early relationships can be as fragile as they are intense. Sara looks back on a best friend and strong presence who was ensnared by anorexia and how that physical and mental condition shattered the safe space that they had between them. All she has left are her memories and a glass bottle of sand from a beach excursion with her friend–“she said it would be like a letter in a bottle to our future selves.” Sara’s magical, musical prose takes us by the hand and guides us into an old fairy tale, glimmering with youth and laughter, which breaks open and turns to dust rather than culminating in a happy ending. Yet something undefinable remains, and that something is a source of healing, empathy and transformation.
Read “Remembering Aurora” in our upcoming September 1st issue, “Broken,” available for pre-order here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Sara Collie (she/her) is a writer, language tutor and psychotherapist-in-training based in the east of England. She has a PhD in French Literature and a lifelong fascination with the way that words and stories shape and define us. Her writing explores the wild, uncertain spaces of nature, the complexities of mental health, and the mysteries of the creative process. Her poetry and prose have appeared in Neon Door, The Selkie, Confluence, Synkroniciti, Stonecrop Review, Full Mood Magazine and elsewhere.