Dodo Eraser

They wait tables, they groom dogs, they walk dogs, they paint dogs, they house sit, they are Merry Maids, they are sex workers, they are companions to old folks with moderate mobility issues, they are restaurant greeters, they sell seasonal opera tickets, they are babysitters, they are telephone fortune teller, they are car wash coupon distributors, they do not get called for auditions, they are sometimes called for the auditions, they are called for the part of a character heard only offstage, they sell diet products, they sell nutritional supplements, they are not the right height, they are not the right type, they are Irishy-Jewishy, they need teeth whitening, they need slimming, they need lip-plumping, they need facial-peeling, they need brow-threading, they are life coaches, they are death doulas, they are professional huggers, they are funny but not sexy, they are sexy but not funny, they are too familiar, they are too exotic, they are cute but not pretty, they are pretty but not cute, they are too girl next door-ish, they are not sleeping with the director.

Meg Pokrass has been published in numerous anthologies and journals including New England Review, Wigleaf, Electric Literature, Five Points, Plume, RATTLE,  The Best Small Fictions 2025, and Flash Fiction America (W.W. Norton, 2023). She has published 10 books of fiction and prose poetry. Her newest full collection First Law of Holes: New and Selected Stories is from Dzanc Books. Meg currently lives in the Scottish Highlands, where she judges The Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction, and serves as Founding/Managing Editor of Best Microfiction.