"Pieces, Fragments"

Back in August of 2020, a friend from university told me that she was working on a zine with some other students called The Places: Zine. Each volume is a collection of pieces sent in by other students and creative along a set theme. The theme for volume one was 'the places we fall in love'. Immediately I was interested in writing a piece for the zine, and I distinctly remember being sat in bed in my hotel room in Belfast and the idea came to me. It was very much a "light-bulb" moment.

Instead of solely writing about falling in love, I chose to also write about the process of falling out of love. The piece itself is very personal to me, and the words are based on experiences I had in a previous relationship. Writing the piece was almost therapeutic in a way, and helped me to let go of any feelings of hurt I had left over. Even though I was quite apprehensive about submitting the piece, it being edited and read by others, and even put into print due to it being so intimately personal to me, I am proud of it. It's the first piece I had ever had put into print.

You can find volume one of The Places: Zine on their website: <https://theplaceszine.wixsite.com/theplaceszine> . I'd really recommend looking out for their future volumes, the team is excellent to work with.

Please leave any comments below.

- Chloe Hulse