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As You Wake, Break the Shell

Page 82

by Becky Chambers

align with our mouths. We

are omnivorous generalists; we

could just lie back and eat. But

we would be miserable in every

respect, to the extent that all

throughout history, we have

drafted laws about not only

access to food, but the quality

of food, the quality of shelter,

the quality of clothing. We do

this for prisoners, and in times

of war, and in all other scenarios

in which we’ve justified labeling

some of our own as monsters

worth shunning. We consider

it inhumane to force poor food

and inadequate clothing on

those we’ve otherwise decided

to revile. It speaks volumes of

us that we cannot exist passively

in any environment. We are too

social for that. We have to have

relationships with everything

we live alongside. We cannot

simply eat the seeds on the

stems of grass; we must decide

which grasses we like best.

We must chase out the other

grasses so that this one may

live, because it is the hardiest