In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

 Animal! The฀meandering฀centipede฀unwisely surfaced฀as฀I฀watered฀my฀ficus. Twisting฀below฀my฀shadow, I฀saw฀it฀try฀to฀elude฀The฀Hand, fleshy฀Cessna฀with฀no฀plans฀to฀pull฀up, instrument฀that฀earlier฀passed฀a฀brush through฀my฀daughter’s฀long฀hair. How฀quickly฀the฀heart฀goes฀haywire, fist-sized฀pacifist฀pump฀falling฀suddenly from฀a฀sleepy฀hey-nonny-nonny-hum to฀machine฀of฀grim฀intent— spirit฀of฀guillotine,฀quiet scythe฀in฀irrevocable฀free฀fall— as฀if฀it฀were฀my฀survival฀at฀stake. How฀territorial,฀how฀absurd! my฀over-eager฀heart฀booming฀tribally, deaf฀to฀all฀but฀its฀own฀red฀sound, murderous,฀urgent, all฀rational฀thought฀lost as฀a฀lone฀stripe฀might฀be฀on฀the฀flank of฀a฀zebra฀as฀the฀herd฀thunders฀past. Understand—I฀was฀determined฀to฀kill that฀scout,฀that฀leggy฀interloper, though฀it฀seems฀ridiculous— I฀vie฀for฀space฀with฀a฀bug? It฀was฀ugly.฀Threatening.฀And how฀inventive฀each฀can฀be, cloaked฀in฀camouflage,฀imperceptibly aggressive฀as฀a฀river฀parasite following฀a฀stream฀of฀pee to฀the฀small฀opening฀of฀its฀host—  each฀urge฀of฀bug,฀bacteria,฀beast the฀pure,฀unadulterated฀will฀to฀be. Nothing฀personal. ...

Share