I LOVEYOU
Isaacstared at the gathered bones, unblinking.Above, on the substrate layer stillclinging to the wall, the skull began to leer from its vertebral stalk.
“Isaac,”the skull rasped.
“Doyou?”Isaac asked.“Do you really love me?”
Above thearms, the skull nodded so hard that it broke free of the vertebrae, bouncingand rolling along the metal floor.A new skull grew from the central mass,shunting out from a beetle-like swarm of fingers.
“Charming,”Zaria muttered.
An armpointed towards the end of the chamber, where his uncle had gone.Next, itpointed back at the central mass.Below, the bones scraped over the floor,forming into a different phrase.
NOTLIKE HIM
“You’renot like your brother,” Isaac said, flatly.
Theskull nodded.Three arms emerged from the central mass.Two of them drew alarge circle in the air, while the third drew a triangle that pointed out ofthe circle.
“Gettin’real sick of this,” Zaria said.“Not sure how a pile of bones can go fuckitself, but I suggest you get tryin’.”
Theskull shook from side to side.It repeated the gesture.The two arms drew alarge, horizontal circle in the air, while a third drew a triangle pointing upfrom the circle, like the fin of a shark.
Below,the bones said:TIME
“Asundial?”Isaac asked.
Theskull nodded vigorously, as if growing excited.
“Time,”he repeated, thinking of possible synonyms.“What about time?Years?Seasons?”
One ofthe arms pointed at the central mass.
TIMEHERE
ME
“Time here.”Isaac paused.“You’ve spent a lot of time down here.”
Theskull nodded again.It bent down, and one of the skeletal arms tapped a bonyfinger against the side of the skull, where the brain once rested.
“You’vespent that time thinking.”
Morenodding.Below, the bones were scuttling furiously, squirming over each otherlike maggots in a corpse.It was obvious, just from a glance, that his fatherhad spent a lot of time practicing how to spell the words.Even though many ofthe words ended up awkward and misshapen, they were always simple to read.
FEAR
MISTAKE
One ofthe arms pointed at Isaac.To the side, two of the arms gently folded together,as if they were cradling a child.
IMAGINEYOU
BORN
GROWING
Thethree arms began to move, mimicking the mnemonic gesture of various spells,from the simple motion of wind to the complex supination of sound.
