Page 26 of Molt

A message from her.

Lenora:

I found another piece.

My blood turns cold.

Three dots appear.

Then a photograph.

Her bathroom sink. A small white object rests beside the drain.

A tooth.

I touch my tongue to my molars. One is loose.

Fuck.

Another message arrives.

Lenora:

August.

Then…

Lenora:

Why does it look exactly like yours?

I close my eyes.

Eight times. Eight fucking times I have watched this happen.

Eight times I’ve loved her. Eight times she’s taken me apart. Eight times I’ve promised myself that if she ever returned, I would leave before she could make me love her again.

But I already know the truth. I knew it the moment I saw her standing in the lobby three months ago soaked from the rain annoyed because her umbrella had broken.

Alive.

Her eyes met mine.

And after thirty-eight years without her, my stupid fucking heart did exactly what it has always done.

It recognized her before she ever remembered me. Before she ever touched me. Before the first piece of skin fell from her body.

I loved her.

And somewhere beneath my feet, Lenora begins to scream.

Chapter 3- Lenora

My tooth has his cavity.

That’s the part I can’t get past. Not the fact that it fell out. Not the fact that there was almost no blood. Not even the new tooth already pushing through the hole in my gums. It’s the tiny silver filling embedded in the molar sitting beside my bathroom sink.

August has the same one.