Silk - Caitlin R. Kiernan [159]
doesn’t answer, holds the steel ball in her palm. It glints in the bright sun like old chrome, and for a moment she just lets it catch the light, silver and the bright scars lacing her arm. And then she squats down and digs a shallow hole in the ground with the fingers of her other hand, puts the ball bearing inside and pushes the dirt back into place over it. She stands up and taps the spot with the toe of her boot until it’s smooth again.
“Nothing, anymore,” she says, and Daria puts her arm around Niki, and together they walk back to the truck stop.
“Heaven’s net is wide;
Coarse are the meshes, yet nothing slips through.”
Lao-tzu, Tao Teh Ching
About the Author
Silk was Caitlín R. Kiernan’s first novel. She has since written six others, including Threshold, Low Red Moon, Murder of Angels, and Daughter of Hounds. Her award-winning short fiction has been collected in four volumes—Tales of Pain and Wonder; From Weird and Distant Shores; To Charles Fort, With Love; and Alabaster. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her partner, doll maker Kathryn Pollnac.
www.caitlinrkiernan.com
greygirlbeast.livejournal.com
www.myspace.com/greygirlbeast