There is no easy cure for depression. It feels like an experiment, trying to balance eating right, and exercising, and getting 8 hours of sleep, and sunshine, and journaling, and medicine. It's frustrating and scary exploring what works, or doesn't work. I wondered how far someone would go, what would they risk to try and feel like themselves again?
What was your main inspiration to write “Glass Girl”? What sparked the initial idea?
This story came from the dedication I feel for protecting my own mental health. There is no easy cure for depression. It feels like an experiment, trying to balance eating right, and exercising, and getting 8 hours of sleep, and sunshine, and journaling, and medicine. It’s frustrating and scary exploring what works, or doesn’t work. I wondered how far someone would go, what would they risk to try and feel like themselves again? That’s where Shelby came from. A girl who would do anything to close the gap between her heart and her family.
While Shelby is the main character of the piece, the setting centers around her twin sister Rachel’s baby shower. During a brief conversation at the shower, Shelby’s parents wonder what they could have done differently, having raised both sisters the same way. Can you talk a bit about this line and what it means to you?
When someone you love struggles with depression, I think there’s always a part of you that wants to make a difference. When you reflect on their hardship, you wonder if you could have done something to protect them from how they feel. I thought it was important to show Shelby’s parents as loving, supportive people who didn’t do anything wrong. Depression is indiscriminate in who it afflicts, and even when it only manifests in one person, its influence ripples through the people closest to them.
Is the phrase “two little girls made of glass” foreshadowing for the baby’s future? Is it an intentional nod towards mental health issues often being influenced by genetics?
For me, it’s less foreshadowing and more of a prayer. Shelby reflects on how hard her life has been as she chased after her mental health. Seeing her niece, this innocent, undamaged infant, it reminds her of how delicately we all start. She feels just like that baby, helpless and fragile. And she hopes that, somehow, her niece will retain her softness in a difficult world.
What do you hope readers take away from this piece?
I hope that readers who struggle with depression feel loved. Even though Shelby has struggled, we see that her parents and her sister always cared for her. And I hope readers with loved ones who go through depression know that they’re loved in return.
A couple more questions just for fun! Do you have any particular writing rituals?
I love Voluspa candles! I always have one on my desk. I light it when I’m writing to enjoy the soft light and fragrance. And I like to listen to music, but I’ll pick one song that captures the mood of what I’m writing and set it to repeat. Having the same song looping helps me let go of time and write.
Lastly . . . what scares you?
Everything! Heights, spiders, the dark… but I think that’s a good thing. Where there’s fear, there’s something to explore.
Ashley Huyge (she/her) is a writer, educator, and course designer. A longtime lover of speculative fiction, dark fantasy, and horror, she finds dark and unexpected themes a comforting way to explore the things that scare us. Reading and writing horror is the safest way to enjoy recreational fear. Her writing has appeared in the flash fiction anthology Darkness 101 Lessons Were Learned. A transplant living in Southern California, she enjoys supernatural movies, Americanos, and sunshine from a shaded vantage point. She lives with her husband, her cats, and her dreams.
