YSJ Anthology 2015

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Jenny says, ‘Let’s get you in there then.’
She holds onto Ellie’s nubs tightly and drags her in the direction of
the bathroom. She is careful to make sure Ellie’s remaining foot
doesn’t catch onto any loose floorboards. She doesn’t do a very good
job, but she thinks she did well since at least half of Ellie’s foot still
remains attached to her body. Ellie is successfully dragged into the
bathroom; she’s left on the ground for now so Jenny can run the
Inuit bath.
‘What’ve you been up to while you were out?’ asks Jenny.
‘Taking names,’ says Ellie, ‘I collect them and give them to my
worms!’
If she could point to the worm crawling over her forehead, she
probably would.
‘I called this one Hilda,’ sings Ellie, ‘And this one’s Patricia!’
‘Wow, that’s neat,’ says Jenny, ‘How do you get them all?’
‘I take them,’ says Ellie.
The bath is just about full. Jenny easily lifts her sister in. The rest of
Ellie’s foot snaps off. Jenny imagines the worms swearing at her for
disturbing their home.
‘It’s okay; I don’t use it anyway.’
Jenny drops Ellie into the icy water. Worms float from all of Ellie’s
wounds and holes and spread across the water’s surface, along with
chunks from the lower half of Ellie’s body. Wormicide.
‘It’s okay; I’ll just give all their names to some other worms.’
Jenny feels a soggy worm on her foot. She gently picks it up and
shows it to Ellie.
‘What’s this one’s name?’ says Jenny.
Ellie’s lipless face gently smiles. ‘She’s called Jenny,’ she says.
Jenny pauses for a moment. ‘I’m absolutely honoured to share a
name with such a fine worm, Ellie.’
‘I don’t think she wants to share the name, Jen.’
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