In the spring of 2025, I drafted and finalized a short fiction piece for a fiction writing course I took in New Zealand. The prompt was open ended, and allowed us to explore the boundaries of our creative freedom.
In Girl’s Night, I chose to explore the dynamics of friendship, ignorance, and alienation from society and friends. The story centers on three wealthy middle-aged women with the backdrop of a dystopian world that these women manage to avoid the flaws of.
There are dark and inhumane operations that fuel the extravagant lives of these characters. Jean, who we experience this world through, is comfortable in her ignorance of the socio-political factors outside Mel’s penthouse, but is deeply resentful of the secrets her friends keep.
“Girls, you would not believe what that wellness retreat did for my skin,” Claire said, never taking her eyes off the mirror. “They never advertise it, but I’m telling you the air in Tibet is actually heaven-sent. It’s a shame you both couldn’t come, I think a revitalization could’ve really helped that dryness you get at this age.”
Jean had not been invited, but it was unlikely she would’ve gone anyways. When Claire left for her trip, Jean’s parents passed away and left her to pick up the pieces of her family’s business. She hadn’t realized it when she was living on her trust fund, but the company was dealing with issues from the locals overseas that were impacting revenue. She tried to let it continue to run, but the painful absence of her parents and her lack of experience ended up with her losing more money than she was making. Better to cut ties.
“GIRL’S NIGHT” BY MADISON JACKSON
Girl’s Night was chosen to be featured in the first issue of American Weirdo Magazine, an indie publication that seeks out strange and queer stories.
You can find the full text on their website: https://americanweirdomag.com/issueone-girlsnight
“The biggest and best club nights” by Nottingham Trent University is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.