2026 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize, Grand Prize Winner – High School Category
This box includes:
ONE preassembled body: upright, not yet stabilized.
ONE voice: factory setting – unfiltered.
ONE ambition: expandable beyond recommended capacity
ONE emotional core: highly responsive to external pressure.
ONE smile: flexible, long wear.
ONE mirror: pre-distorted.
ONE drawer: sealed at factory.
And a surplus of screws labeled:
SHOULD
GOOD GIRL
REASONABILITY
You will use more than you expect. You will not remember installing most of them.
Before you begin:
The first screw is installed early. She is seventeen, standing in her pink-tiled bathroom while her mother fastens the top button of her blouse. The mirror is slightly fogged from her shower.
“Chin up,” her mother says. Her mother’s hands are gentle and are the dwelling of age. She smooths the fabric over her daughter’s shoulders, preparing her for scrutiny. Her daughter straightens. The shift is immediate, so immediate that there is no pain. However, she will feel tension. Her muscles will rearrange themselves, housing a version of her body that takes up less insecurity.
“There you go,” her mother says.
Her lips curl into a slight smile. After her mother exits the room, she will stay in front of the mirror to study her exemplary stance.
Inside her chest, something small and metallic settles into place. It should hopefully hold for years.
STEP ONE: Stabilize posture
Place her body in an upright position to begin. Ensure that her shoulders remain slightly pulled back at all times. Correct posture signals competence and control. Over time, the original resting position will be forgotten. This is normal. At first, she will have to remind herself. She will correct her reflection when she strolls by windows, mirrors, and in the dark glass of her phone screen. Eventually, she will stop needing reminders. The posture should be permanent. There should be no faults.
STEP TWO: Voicebox
Note: We are actively renewing our voicebox model. Difficulties may arise as it is hard to calibrate to the ideal volume output.
Insert voice into a social environment.
Initial output may include:
– Direct disagreement
– Straightforward opinions
– Emotional transparency
These settings may cause discomfort in others.
Install GOOD GIRL-01
Encourage the use of softening phrases:
– “Sorry, can I just say something really quick?”
– “I might be wrong, but…”
– “This is probably nothing, however…”
Her mother will not teach this directly. Her mother will teach this by example:
– By the way she lowers her voice on the phone.
– By the way she apologizes to strangers who inconvenience her.
– By the way she absorbs frustration without making a face.
Her daughter will learn by watching. Ensure she learns how to sand the edges off her own sentences. It is crucial that she makes herself easier to accept.
STEP THREE: Install ambition
Attentively remove ambition from its packaging. Observe the original size: it will appear larger than recommended. Fold it carefully towards yourself three times. Secure beneath the ribcage using SHOULD-14 through SHOULD-28. Ambition may resist containment. This is expected.
At nineteen, she will tell a man she wants to be extraordinary. It will hurt her as he laughs and tells her, “You don’t have to try so hard, you know.” She will laugh too. That night her ambition will crease to form another fold. Not because she believes him, because she wants him to stay.
STEP FOUR: Secure emotional core
Locate the compartment beneath the sternum. There you will insert the emotional core. It may pulse rapidly.
Exposure may result in visible vulnerability, including:
– Occasional crying
– Visible disappointment
– Attachment
Seal this compartment using the remaining screws labeled SHOULD. Do not leave emotional core exposed in shared environments. Exposure risks reducing perceived stability. She will learn this slowly: – She will admit she needs something for the first time, however it will go unresponded.
– The first person she cries in front of will leave anyway.
– She will realize that being emotionally open does not mean she will be cradled. She begins sealing herself more carefully after that.
And she becomes very good at it.
STEP FIVE: Install romantic module
Align with a secondary unit. Initial compatibility appears higher than it really is. Secondary unit may express deep admiration using phrases such as:
– “You’re different.”
– “You’re so strong.”
– “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
Monitor for later recalibration. Secondary unit may begin to withdraw if ambition exceeds the acceptable threshold. Secondary unit may interpret her independence as distance. Secondary unit will leave. This does not signify a defect, it is performing how it is manufactured to.
At twenty-four, she will sit across a man who once memorized the way she likes her coffee. Her emotional core will pulse alarmingly. Continued daydreams will flood her, they must be shut out.
STEP SIX: Mother interface
This module will remain active throughout her lifespan. Regular check-ins are to be expected. Voice may revert to earlier settings during interactions. Her mother will call on Sundays. She will ask the basic questions that she imposes dire need to be satisfyingly answered. Her mother knows what it means to survive, however she does not understand what that imposes, or how to come apart safely. Her daughter does not know how to explain the difference. Instead, they will speak around it. Expressing their love carefully. Limitedly.
STEP SEVEN: Mirror calibration
Unbox the mirror and stand in front of it. The perception should change immediately. This mirror is designed to make flaws increasingly observable, to make strength seem growingly conditional, and to make stability quiver. It is pivotal that she learns to evaluate herself before someone else does. If she does not anticipate criticism before it arrives, the potential harm will climb. This will lead to the improvement of social compatibility with others, however it may reduce internal freedom.
STEP EIGHT: Long-term maintenance
Over time, the structure should become stable. From the outside, the unit should appear complete. She will be functional, reliable, and whole by the thirtieth year. The following internal sensations may be reported:
– Pressure beneath the sternum.
– Slight fatigue without a visible cause.
– Questioning of the original configuration.
These sensations should not be visible externally. No action is required.
She must continue.
She must work.
She must love.
She must adjust.
She must hold.
She holds.
She holds.
She holds.
STEP NINE: Drawer access (proceed with unwavering caution as this action is unauthorized)
This drawer contains several components that are not listed in the original set of instructions. She will open it one night without meaning to.
Inside:
Anger.
No.
Leave.
She will touch No first. Utterly, it fits in the palm of her hand. She realizes, with a startling shock, that it was always here. It was always readily available for her. She will not install this program yet. She will close the drawer, leaving with the knowledge of its existence.
Final note
Our system is meticulously designed to create a life that appears whole from the outside. No assembly is permanent. As screws loosen and original form returns, the effects of sustained pressure will gradually be distinguishable.
If you listen carefully, you’ll hear a faint clicking noise coming from within. After all, all configurations are only temporary.
Serena Shih writes to map the in-betweens: moments where silence hums louder than words and when the ordinary things begin to glow. She finds stories in cracked windows, late nights spent studying, and the weight of small decisions. Her work drifts between poetry and prose, always working to blur boundaries. When she’s not writing, she’s people-watching in cafés, online shopping for outfits she’ll never wear, or overanalyzing song lyrics that feel like diary entries. Her instagram handle is @serenasznn.
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