“Introduction” by Ava Walkow.

Transcript

The first page is filled by a single panel of a little girl standing in a public restroom with her back to the viewer. It is colored with a limited, dull, teal color pallet.
The text reads:
When I was younger
“hello”
I would introduce myself to every room I entered
“my name is Ava”
It was some sort of compulsion— a trait of something that wouldn’t be acknowledged for a long time
I believed it protected me and my family

The second page contains scattered, square panels filled with bathroom details. In order: a ceiling fan, a tissue box, a crumpled up paper towel in a corner, a soap bottle, the girl’s shoe.

Interjecting these panels are two longer rectangular panels. The first one is of the girl front-facing and the final panel on the page is of the bathroom door ajar.
The text reads:
I shared my aspirations, my dreams, my “sins”
a private confession at times,
a casual meeting at others.
I can’t help but wonder if they still exist within those walls.