Iulia Calota

I am Romanian, former Londoner, now living in the French countryside. I am an advertising project manager by day and writer by... whenever I have spare time between renovation projects, farm animals, managing a holiday rental business and a remote job. I have written a memoir called The Love Project about how I used project management to find love (in editing) and a number of short stories and essays, which I am currently submitting to various competitions.

The Binding of Isaac

I remember the bottles. And the flacons. And the blister packs. All neatly lined up on the kitchen counter. I remember her taking a handful of her strongest tablets just before bed and, within minutes, her eyes droopy, mouth like rubber, voice distorted, like a slowed-down turnstile. It was during those few moments of seeing my mother changing from a normal person to a toy that had run out of batteries that I recognised something I wished I could forget.