Summary
Tenses herself silent and motionless until the moment her body floats out the bedroom window to the tree in front of the house where he is waiting. Stomping, shuffling, tapping, swishing, marching, left-right-left, heel-to-toe, four-four, six-eight, eleven-and-a-half, a multiplicity of sound patterns communicating wishes, warnings, secrets. From time to time an impulse seized her to jump into the water, to sink into the waves of unfamiliar black hair that surrounded her, but she did not release the hand that held her.
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Extract
Homecoming
ONE
THE COLOR OF BLOOD is not red. It is deep dark chocolate brown and gochu-jang stained in the center where the wound is still fresh. She is not afraid because she does not remember. Nothing tells her to fear him, not the holes in his chest, not the soft layer of white mold that grows all over his skin. She is not afraid because she thinks this fuzzy decay-growth is new fur. He is becoming animal spirit from before this life. She closes her eyes pretending to sleep so no one will disturb her plan. Tenses herself silent and motionless until the moment her body floats out the bedroom window to the tree in front of the house where he is waiting. He almost tricked her into believing he was a still-living boy, but then parts of her faintly recalled their last encounter. Although it happened right in front of her while her eyes were wide open, she could not see it. Only the tiniest ripples of cold on the surface of her arms reminded her that he was already dead.Two: 1944Lips curve breath pushes out through empty spaces where teeth will be and the tongue flops restlessly without purpose.She was born into a world where oral language was reserved for men.They used the sounds that emerged from their throats and mouths to talk to one another, but never to her. For women, speaking was a dangerous act. Those who dared to speak out loud in their native tongue were punished and put on display as an example of what the others should fear, so if the girls s...See the full content of this document
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