ALT Thursday Throwback Carapace by Rebecca Tiger 'This year, it’s turtles. Sophie marvels at their contradictions. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. She chews her fingernails, sometimes until they bleed. “What do you have to worry about?” her mother asks. Sophie’s bedroom now houses her baby brother’s crib. Sometimes she plays in the room’s large closet, reading to her imaginary turtle, Rufus. Her father got her a copy of Minn of the Mississippi from the library. She learns that a turtle cannot regrow a limb. But a damaged shell might come back. Sophie eyes her stumpy nails with hope.' Read it now in Issue 5.