Questions The Caseworker Should Have Asked After My Ex Accused Me of Neglect ~ fiction by Barbara Diggs

What’s your child’s name? What grade is she in? What’s her daily routine? Does she brush her teeth every morning? Does she cry every night? What school does she go to? How are her grades? Have you observed behavioral changes? Does she startle at small noises? Flinch when classmates raise hands? Drop her books at the bell? What activities is she interested in? What are her favorite games? Is she good at hide and seek? Where does she hide when your ex hammers on the front door? Screams I’ma fucking kill you from the sidewalk? Does she prefer her bedroom closet or under the kitchen sink? How small can she shrink herself? Does she know how to fade into a sofa cushion? Become a fixture on a wall? Does she like to play tag? How fast can she run for help? What kind of chores does she do? Does she wash dishes? Mop your blood off the floor? Sweep broken plates, lamps, or teeth? How does she sleep at night? Does she wake up whimpering? Or does she cry soundlessly? How well did you explain the restraining order? Did she believe it when you swore it’d protect you? Did her eyes look so old that you felt like the child? How hard did you fight for sole custody? For supervised visitation? How shocked were you to learn she cuts herself before each visit? Makes Xs like tiny stars in the most tender part of her arm? What did she say when you swore he would never touch her? Did she tell you it’s not your ex’s hands she fears most? But that she might melt before his tear-stained apologies? Fall prey to his killer smile? The way you always did?

Barbara Diggs’s flash fiction has been published or is forthcoming in numerous online and print journals, including SmokeLong Quarterly, FlashBack Fiction, (mac)ro(mic), and Ellipsis Zine. Her stories have also won Highly Commended awards with the Bath Flash Fiction Award and The Bridport Prize. She lives in Paris, France, with her husband, two sons, and a very cute turtle. Twitter: @barbaradiggswrites Bluesky: @bdiggswrites.bsky.social.