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Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies

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Maddie Mortimer

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“…she performed the expected neighborly duties: presenting tuna-noodle casseroles to the sick, taking in the mail and newspapers of those on vacations so their houses wouldn’t be targeted by burglars, babysitting the occasional dog or cat. Though not the occasional baby: even when my mother offered, parents of babies hesitated. Could they have picked up on her invisible but slightly alarming aura? (Invisible to others; she claimed that she herself could see it. Purple, according to her.) Maybe they were afraid they’d return to find their infant in a roasting pan with an apple in its mouth. My mother would never have done such a thing, however. She was evil, but not that evil.”

“I was thinking about my mother. A party like that, with so many of you collected in one place—it might attract her. Draw her here.” Will regarded Jesse thoughtfully. “And then she would do what?” Jesse shook his head. “I don’t know. She is unpredictable, but she certainly hates you all, and she has a special loathing for these Christmas parties—she often spoke to me of having been humiliated at one once, and the Enclave not caring.” Will sighed. “That was me. I read her diary out loud at a Christmas party, long ago. I was twelve. And I was severely punished, so in fact, the Enclave was on her side.” “Ah,” said Jesse. “When I was a child, I thought it was terrible that she had been so often wronged. Later I came to understand that my mother saw everything as a wrong undertaken against her. She collected grievances, as if they were china figures. She liked to take them out and speak about them, examining them over and over for new facets of evil and betrayal. She held them closer to her than she ever held her children.”

“वह ऐसे लौटी जैसे कुछ हुआ ही नहीं था। हिंदुस्तानी माँएं इस मामले में एक्सपर्ट होती हैं। चाहे बड़ी-से-बड़ी बात हो जाए वे सब कुछ दोबारा से शुरू कर लेती हैं जैसे कुछ हुआ ही नहीं हो। पूरी दुनिया भी अगर उनको शुरू करने को कहा जाए तो वे ऐसे शुरू करेंगी जैसे कुछ हुआ ही नहीं था।”