A Gentle Touch

Every two weeks or so I am publishing an essay from an emerging writer. This week, we are publishing “A Gentle Touch” by Courtney Bowers. Courtney is a writer based in Austin, Texas. For her newsletter, Half Life, she writes essays exploring human nature, digital wellness, and pop culture. She has a degree in Creative Writing from Miami University (Ohio). This is her first publication.Subscribe nowThe same week a man groped me in Bali, another man put a gun to a woman’s head halfway across the world in my rural hometown. He waited for her outside the Dollar General, stole all the cash in her purse, and threw her phone away before making her drive him down dark country highways in her little red car.I was in a hostel cafe in Canggu, nursing a tender, bruised chest and counting down the hours until I could finally leave for the airport when my mom texted me the news. I’d cried a lot since my assault and cried more tears for this young woman, who’d been a few grades behind me in school,…