Fungal Halo

“I’ll kiss her,” I think, and then she’s already gone, scant decades later.

I’ve lost count of all the people I loved who swept into my life and warmed my heart for a short while before death’s pallid grasp drained everything from them and left me all alone again.

Properly cared for, a well-made doll can last a truly impressive span of time, even by the standards of those as long-lived as witches.

But sometimes, no matter how great the skill of a witch, a doll may simply wind down and stop one day.

She cries and cries and cries, tears flowing until they run out, then turn to blood, and then finally all capacity for tear making is utterly exhausted.

Still the IV sends a steady stream of grief into her, and she is wracked with dry sobs until her body gives out entirely.