In this Moth-winning story, Glenda wants to go for a swim in a remote South Pacific anchorage, but she’s on her period and worries that sharks will smell her blood and come for her. When she does decide to go for a swim, she discover that her bravery is more than just a delusion.

This is a short vignette from her in-progress memoir about the three years she set out to sail around the world by hitchhiking on sailboats. The story takes place on the first of these boats on the first island she’d reached since leaving Mexico and crossing three thousand miles of open ocean.

Here’s the video from The Moth StorySLAM in St. Paul.