Call Me
by Elena Zhang
My father gave me a Captain Ahab action figure when I was twelve. It came with a bucket of whale gold you could snap into its curled right hand. I liked it alright, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t rub the longing off its face. The painted eyes looked past me. There was no detachable heart. When the left hand pointed a plastic finger to the horizon, I followed it. It’s been twenty years. The action figure is gone, yet still urges me on. When I close my eyes, I can almost hear his voice.
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BIO
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Elena Zhang is a Chinese American writer and mother living in Chicago. Her work can be found in HAD, The Citron Review, and Flash Frog, among other publications. She is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, and was selected for Best Microfiction 2024 and 2025.
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BOOK/ZINES
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​The Moon, My Heart (Tiny Wren Lit)
I Gave Birth (part of zine series 12, rinky dink press)
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SOCIAL MEDIA
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Bluesky: @ezhang77‪
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