After Absence
No one attacks Dess Hale. The tea is not poured. The shutter does not lift. A can is filled for someone else. This is what lasting means.
A fictional narrative within Callizto Dark Symphony.
Dess went to Yew first, because hunger is stupid.
Yew looked at the space beside her and served the person behind.
Kesh filled the partner’s can. Through Dess. The partner did not speak. Speech would have been Dess using their mouth.
Rell passed with the strap and did not take a slip. Pell’s cart had no floor. Merr’s book had no line.
Dess still had chips. The chips had become souvenirs.
She walked the public tunnel. People saw her. Seeing was not remembering a favour.
Nim ate.
The Unnamed, in the alcove, were three again, different three, because scattering is not always death, and because a room can be a room once it is no longer a product.
Dess sat on a cable spool until the pipe knocked morning, and morning did not include her.
Mentioned in this record
- The Veil
- Liariel