vox ex...

Thicket, 2026

thanks to @lifemodeldecoy for the tag! wanted to share this for all of those who voted in my WIP poll for Instructions for growing … even though it didn’t win, I haven’t forgotten about it! … two different fragments for you…not fully committed to a specific structure for this one yet, so it’s just disjointed parts and pieces for now.

if anyone happens upon this and has there own WIP to share…please tag me … i’d love to see what you are working on :)

...

The fruit is still green. They are not ready yet. She picks one anyway. The thorn catches the tip of her finger. It's sour. Not lemon-sour, not vinegar-sour. Astringent and so sharp her jaw clenches involuntarily. She fills her left palm with them. Streaked with dirt, juice, and a thin line of blood between her index and middle finger. Six, seven, eight— Small and translucent and round and slightly furred. The seeds catch between her teeth. She guides her tongue to try and dislodge them. Something moves across the inside of her wrist. A caterpillar half the length of her thumbnail, longer when it moves. Speckled pale yellow and black, banded along it's side with orange. The front of its body lifts, reaches, finds the next inch of skin, the rest following in a slow contraction. It turns and continues along the edge of her thumb. Stops when it reaches the heel of her hand. The gooseberries grow warm in her palm, the blood dries between her fingers.

….

The Path to the Moon

Loose End of Light

A Glass, a Lemon, and the Sun, 2026 | Mandarins,2024