Here’s a brief selection::

“My neighbour had had surgery for cancer just a few months before. She understood the gut-wrenching terror of the diagnosis and offered to drive me to my medical appointments in Gander. After mychemo, she went with me to buy satin pillowcases, which were supposed to be easier on shedding scalps.

That night as I slipped them on the pillows, I looked out over the islands in the bay. The angle was slightly different from that of my bedroom window next door, and the view had slightly shifted. That wasn’t the only view that had changed. Bare patches of scalp faced me in the mirror across the room.And uncertainty had crept into my vision of the future.”

• from The Red Beret, by Gail Alice Collins. Featured in NQ Fall 2025, on the stands August 29th