Catherine CC Dumé
Writer of Fiction & Nonfiction | Disability Political Theorist
The Black Cloche
Graduation day is supposed to be a celebration — a triumphant ending to high school. But for Emma Jean, it spirals into a tense and chaotic search as she weaves through the roaring crowd, desperate to find one specific hat before it’s too late.
The Black Cloche: Extended
What if the story didn’t end with hope?
The Black Cloche: Extended returns to Emma Jean’s world — but this time, the ending isn’t so tidy. In this haunting follow-up, the positive closure never comes. Emma was stood up. And now, four years after her university graduation, she’s on the cusp of a fresh start when unexpected news pulls her backward: her late father’s old student apartment — the only thing he left her — is being demolished.
Told through two intimate vignettes, “The Magazine” and “The Last Stereo”, this short collection explores the tension between holding on and letting go. As Emma confronts the past she’s never fully understood, she must decide what’s worth saving — and what it means to begin again.
Catherine CC Dumé 