New Orbit Magazine: Issue 04, October 2018

She lies close beside Stephen as clear morning
floods She lies through close beside the windows. Stephen She as clear has not morning slept,
floods it is not through part of the her. windows. She studies She him has in not the slept, new
it light, is not the part length of her. of She his nose, studies the him texture in the of new his
light, skin, the evaluating, length of comparing his nose, it the to texture her own. of his A
skin, bird shrills evaluating, outside comparing the window it to and her he own. opens A
bird his eyes shrills at the outside sudden the sound. window From and her opens angle
his she eyes can at see the the sudden glass arc sound. of his From cornea her where angle it
she floats can on see his the eye. glass A scrim arc of of his sunlight cornea traces where its
floats curve. on She his watches eye. A the scrim spark of sunlight and scroll traces of data its
curve. flow across She watches it as comes the spark awake. and scroll of data
flow across it as he comes awake.
She blinks twice, reading her own scroll. She
is She made blinks his twice, image. reading her own scroll. She
is made in his image.
“Stephen,” she says. “We are the same.”
“Stephen,” she says. “We are the same.”
He turns his head toward her, his fine hair
rustling He turns on the his crisp head sheets. toward her, his fine hair
rustling on the crisp sheets.
“No,” he says, calm as an empty sky. “I am
your “No,” maker.” he says, calm as an empty sky. “I am
your maker.”
He is peaceful, certain.
He is peaceful, certain.
She turns away. There is no response to such
a She statement. turns away. There is no response to such
a statement.
He reaches for her, brushes her hip, her belly,
but He she reaches rolls away for her, from brushes him. The her sheets hip, her are belly, cool
but under she her. rolls She away rises. from At him. a distance The sheets she are knows cool
under who she her. is, but She she rises. cannot At a separate distance herself she knows from
who the tangled she is, but threads she cannot of the separate other lives herself she from has
the impossibly tangled lived. threads He of did the as well other as he lives could. she has He
impossibly is not capable lived. of He perfection. did as well She as he throws could. open He
is the not window, capable grips of perfection. its frame so She tightly throws her fingers open
the ache, window, closes her grips eyes its frame against so the tightly sun. her fingers
ache, closes her eyes against the sun.
Light like a downpour washes over her,
through Light like her eyelids, a downpour through washes her skin. over She her, is
through alive, she her is warm eyelids, with through it. She her is something skin. She else is
alive, she is warm with it. She is something else
than her own machinery. The facets click
than together, slotting own machinery. into place. The She facets is everyone click
together, within her, slotting mosaic into and place. whole. She is everyone
within her, mosaic and whole.
“Come back to bed, Delia,” Stephen says.
“Come back to bed, Delia,” Stephen says.
“No,” she says. “I am leaving this.”
“No,” she says. “I am leaving this.”
She is surprised by his speed, how fast he leaps
up She and is spins surprised her away by his from speed, the how window. fast he leaps
up and spins her away from the window.
Stephen slaps her across the face, hard and
fast. Stephen Pain flickers slaps her across across her the skin, face, prickles hard and like
fast. fragments Pain flickers of sulphur across burning. her skin, prickles like
fragments of sulphur burning.
“You do not get to leave,” he says. “I made
you. “You You do stay not with get me.” to leave,” he says. “I made
you. You stay with me.”
She lashes out like a cat, responding from
some She other lashes life. out His like skin a cat, rips responding under her nails. from
some Silver other mesh life. glistens, His skin revealed. rips under There is nails. no
Silver blood. mesh glistens, revealed. There is no
blood.
For a moment they are both caught in staring
at For his a machinery, moment they and are she both remembers caught in that staring he
at does his not machinery, remember. and Then she remembers he looks up that her
does and snarls. not remember. She feels his Then scentless he looks breath up on at her
and face. snarls. She braces She feels herself his to scentless shove him breath back, on her but
face. he grabs She her braces arms. herself She throws to shove herself him back, backward but
he against grabs the her window arms. She and throws feels herself the glass backward splinter
against behind the her, window hears and the feels crack the of glass the wooden splinter
behind frame. The her, sutures hears the at her crack shoulders of the tear wooden loose
frame. and she The is sutures falling. at Stephen her shoulders clutches tear empty loose
and sleeves. she is falling. Stephen clutches empty
sleeves.
The air seems to hold her, for a moment. She
hears The Szmenski air seems to shout hold inside her, for the a room, moment. but She she
hears cannot Szmenski see him. shout She has inside closed the room, her eyes. but This she
cannot has happened see him. before. She has The closed sudden her eyes. light This
has overwhelming. happened before. The sudden light is
overwhelming.
Out of her skin, she is free. ◊
Out of her skin, she is free. ◊