In Dana Johnson's short story, "Because That's Just Easier," protagonist Frida is worried about her daughter, Dakota, and this fear she seems to have of the outside world on the streets of Los Angeles.
They live in a high-rise away from the homeless people who live on the streets they must traverse in their everyday lives. Dakota is sensitive, watchful, thoughtful. Her own perspective influences the way Frida sees the world. She learns that maybe she’s done too much to avoid the outside world in her own ways and deny the reality of what goes on out there because, as the title of the story tells us, maybe it’s just easier that way. Or is it?
This story can be found in the collection In the Not Quite Dark by Dana Johnson.
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