darling claims an empty cup and duchess says, i want to talk to you. everything needs to be fixed. there are broken window pains and loose floorboards and tattered curtains hanging dismally in the kitchen. look carefully says duchess. how will you decide what to do first?
darling wonders what it would be like to be at sea. if a clean cupboard would still comfort her. she would gaze at the familiar walls, yearn for the sight of home. already it is too much: she ought to be finished with this dusting. i look at them both, at once. they share an absence, a nothing. they are wandering beyond this point. the things they ought to do are forgotten. she forgets her mouth. it used to be her fingers that reached out to brush me as i passed but now her hands are sealed in her pockets.
EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR, SCENE FIVE
EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR, SCENE FOUR
if she is accurate, the stone will hit the mark. this is where the rose bursts open. she says, it is the atmosphere. a line of saliva crusted the corner of her mouth. she has been extremely unreliable. the dishes are undone.
EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR, SCENE THREE
did you hear that? duchess says. i should turn the lights off. she pulls herself up on her toes, hoping to catch sight of a passing ship. she has memorized the path across the water. hours pass without a sighting. i left something in the city, she says, the key already warm in her hand.
EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR, SCENE TWO
darling keeps her tongue out of sight, nowhere near the beach. her tongue chasing a creature deep into her throat. a thimbleful of small stones won't last long: she throws them at the window, hoping duchess will look out. over the waves, a bird drifts, the water turning inside out. darling's hair rests like a coiled rope on the back of her neck.
Switching to new WPTheme
New theme! I still have things to figure out… Hold on, please.