Q shook his head. “No.”
“Look at them, Q.Please.”
Q sighed. “I’m looking.” He poised the matchstick over the side of the box. “Now, can I burn them?”
“Do you see it?” Raya glanced at him expectantly.
“See what?” Q’s eyes traveled over his work. Tips of noses. Eyes. Several brows. A few lips. Cheeks and chins. Temples. He juggled them around as he often did, trying to assemble a face.
“Her.”
Q furrowed his brow at the pile. “I don’t see anything.”
“Neither do I.”
“I told you.” Q kneaded the bridge of his nose. “I don’t remember what she looks like. All these paintings are just fragments. They’re unfinished.”
“That’s not why I couldn’t see her face,” Raya said. “I’ve built songs from smaller pieces. What I can’t do is create a song from lyrics and riffs that don’t belong together. When I looked at these paintings, I had to keep asking myself, Which eye do I use? Which mouth? Which ear?” She reached for a painting. “And then I saw this. This piece isn’t from a face at all.”
Q took the painting from her. It was one of the earliest ones hehad made. It had leaned against one of the darkest corners of his studio, forgotten. A name, painted in a delicate cursive, circled a slim wrist on the canvas like red thread.
“You couldn’t remember the face in your dreams, Q,” Raya said,“because Lily wears many.”
Two loud knocks on the studio’s ceiling echoed through the room. “Q? Raya? Are you in there?” Rasmus called down. “I’ve finished our barometer.”
“Can a crystal train take you anywhere you want to go?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Raya
“Voilà!” Rasmus set a large wooden box down on the Archive’s marble floor. A silver hand crank jutted from its left side. Abbie clambered down his sleeve and over the box, examining every corner.
“How does it work?” Raya said.
“Watch.” Rasmus turned the crank, opening the box’s lid. Abbie crawled off the box and sat on his shoulder.
Raya held her breath.
Released it.
And held it again.
“Is something supposed to happen?” Q said.
“It…um…needs a little adjustment.” Rasmus kicked the box. An enormous flock of red balloons flew out and into the mouth of the jade tunnel over their heads. “I’ve assigned each of the balloons a train car.” Rasmus reached into the box and pulled out thick bundles of strings. A tiny gold bell tinkled from the end of each. “The balloons are filled with laughter. If the level of sadness in the car a balloon is in rises, the balloon will burst, jingling the bell tied to its string. Do you mind helping me hang the bells up?”
Abbie made quick work of weaving a silver web across the Archive. But even with the spider’s help, hanging each string on the web took longer. Raya tied the last of them and rubbed the back of her neck, looking out at the sea of bells.
Q groaned and stretched his arms over his head. “I never want to see another piece of string again.”
Raya smirked. “That might make flossing a bit difficult.”
“You’ve never flossed with your eyes closed? You forget. Seeing things in the dark is my superpower.”
