8FOLD: Mancers # 9, "Head Room"

[Tom Russell]

On Monday, June 1, 2020 at 8:47:12 PM UTC-4, Scott Eiler wrote:
> On 2020-06-01 08:21, Tom Russell wrote:
> >     Next to the straight line she makes another, then a diagonal, like
> > a bottomless triangle. She reverses it - makes it a reflection of
> > itself - and is perversely pleased that it at least vaguely resembles
> > an M. After a few minutes of grunting and bleeding, she admires the
> > six jagged letters: I MISS U.
> >     "Well?" she says. No answer.
> >     She slumps down onto the tile floor, her back against the cupboard.
> > She twists her arm, glancing in turn at her white wrist and the red
> > knife. A minute. She'll wait a minute. She counts to sixty, silently
> > mouthing the words.
> >     When she gets to forty, she feels a flush of heat upon her cheek,
> > and then jagged metal against her arm. She stifles a scream and then
> > looks at the back of her arm. Her flesh is tearing itself, splitting
> > apart like busted seams. After a moment, it stops, and she can see
> > three more letters: TOO.
> >     I MISS U TOO.
> >     And for the first time in a long time, Lieke is happy.
> 
> That was a really good story moment.
> 
> As you might imagine, I'm not heavily into shadow-political adventures. 
> But I look forward to where this one is going.

Thanks. There's a reason why I'm doing this on Mondays and Daylighters on Thursdays - so I can alternate the magical spy series with something approaching straightforward superhero shenanigans.