Revision by Beth Kanter

I immediately accepted Anne Frank’s invitation to join her for afternoon tea at Koffie ende Koeck, Amsterdam’s highly rated vegan cafe a mere scone’s throw away from the apartment where she almost grew up in Merwedeplein Square. I arrived early not wanting to keep my first real friend from the Queens Borough Public Library waiting even for a moment. But when the waiter showed her to my table, I was certain he had brought over the wrong person. The woman before me had grey hair worn long and free, and a brow lined like a college ruled notebook. Her once schoolgirl posture had the bend of time. You must have the wrong table. Then she extended her hand. It was ink-stained. Like mine. I squinted and thought I saw her, me. Annelies, is that you? You’re so old. She fished out a tortoise shell compact from her handbag and studied her reflection in the small mirror. Imagine that she whispered with the wonder of a young girl.

Beth Kanter’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in a range of publications including McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, X-R-A-Y Literary Magazine, Emerge Literary Journal, Identity Theory, and Cease, Cows. Beth is a Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fiction nominee. Her chapbook “Slasher” was named a finalist in the 2024 Lefty Blondie’s First Chapbook Award contest and the Yellow Arrow Publishing Chapbook contest.