When Bo Bishop was a kid, his grandaddy always told him about a monster that lived in the swamp nearby. Bo never would've admitted it, but he believed every word. Now he's all grown up, on his own, and about to come back to the swamp for the first time in nearly ten years. He's old enough to know better now. But the swamp has this way of reminding you why you used to fear it. Cover by carolina cruz Chapter header image by the_black_stevonnie on instagram

An excerpt from Margaret Atwood's classic story, The Handmaid's Tale. This is a word of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. First Anchor Books Edition, April 1998 Copyright © 1986 by O. W. Toad, Ltd. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1986. The Anchor Books edition is published by arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company. Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC. www.anchorbooks.com

I turned 16 and it felt like everything was going right. Right up to the end.