<<<
The old woman smiled and her mouth was slimy, which I hate. I
hate slime. I hate things that shine. But as quickly as she smiled, her
mouth opened widely, as if she wanted to swallow me in one fell swoop,
but then her eyes caught the empty holes where eyes once were directly
behind me. Thousands of them. I hate to brag, but many beggars have
come to knock on my door and I offer them a warm bath and company and
they in turn remove their teeth and eyes and once they enter my home
and I remove their slime, they no longer live. I do not kill them. They
simply stop living.
This old woman though, she was different. I had a
kinship to her. I felt a warmth that I have not felt since my dear
brother stopped living. So I said, “Old woman, here are your
teeth and your eyes. Screw them back into place, but only if you
promise to live with me for ever after here and play with me every day.
Old woman, I make you this offer, but you must not try to eat me. You
must play with me and all my dead old beggar men.”
The old woman smiled and hungrily grabbed for her
teeth. She sharpened the roots into screw and put them all back into
her mouth. She said, “Now, dear girl, do you have any
floss?”