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Jan/Feb 2020 • Vol. XLII No. 1 |

The Forgetting Diary

By Shoshana Akabas

1
I forget my best friend’s birthday for what I think, as far as I can remember, is the first time.

Ella is Russian, and birthdays are a big deal, so I decided to put aside our disagreements for the day. I remembered her birthday the night before, but wishing a Russian happy birthday before her birthday is bad luck. By the time I remember again, the day has passed.

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Shoshana Akabas teaches writing at Columbia University. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in English and organic chemistry and holds an MFA from Columbia University in fiction and literary translation. Most recently, her writing has been featured in the Washington Post, American Short Fiction, Believer, and Electric Literature.

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