JIAQI KANG
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晋源
Maman as a baby looks like a boy, arms at her sides, feet shoulder-width apart, a hat between her hair and the sun. Her nickname was Little Dog. It’s what her grandmother called her, the same grand mother who brought her to a studio in Taiyuan to have her photograph taken, stood her there and told her not to move, arranged her scarf to fall in front of her padded winter coat. She could be my little brother, her second-born, who has always hated even the concept of having his picture taken, would jump in front of the lens or pull a face, marring the memory. No amount of shouting and scolding could stop him, he was always louder than any of us put together, beating his fists against our chest if we tried to gather him into our arms. In photos, my brother is an infant with jaundice or a high school graduate. Not much in the middle.
Jiaqi Kang is a doctoral student in art history and the founding editor-in-chief of Sine Theta Magazine. Their fiction has been recognized by Wigleaf Top 50 and The White Review Short Story Prize. They live in Oxford, UK. Find them online: jiaqikang.carrd.co.