THEY NEVER WANTED HER - NOW SHE'S UNAVOIDABLE

o memory o

n that she arrived wher

The silences that fall over a room for no visible reason. The sentences that stop ju

taught her that it was be

That is how things were arrange

at they said about you before you ever spoke. Smiles had a precise duration-neither too sho

ly discussed. Repu

never told. Not then. Not later

It froze. There were no tears. No screams either. Just a clear, immediate

t. She would feel it in restrained gestures. In arms that held her without ever clos

ot collapse.

conceal, never to celebrate. The cuts are impeccable. The colors subdued. No o

in a room tha

dense it seems to absorb sound before it can take sha

e child without to

bserving a consequence rather than a human being. A period placed to

n her ear. No tremblin

conscious fear. More a diffuse, animal sensation. A lac

t presented. She rem

and the words, but she grasps their intention. Decisions made elsew

er. Her father-bio

r in his arms. He

the room. Claire straightens. Her moveme

erstand what is unfoldin

e to choose between what she has always been and what she has brought into th

rry it for a long time withou

Then weeks.

. To calm herself. To wait without waiting. When she cries, Claire

a is s

early one simple ru

n on time. Baths are regulated. Sleep is monitored. No

ssary words. None of those phr

place. Clean lines. Immaculate surfaces. But

space, surrounded by beautiful

t. The movements are sure, never clumsy. She makes sure everythi

sometimes. But never insistent. Claire leaves no opening. Thi

owing it, is already beg

le violence. No s

sence. A gentle nega

e cracks in the ceiling for long stretches of time. She traces invisi

rejected. But she feels

this place, ne

y, a certainty settles in-slow and deep

to survive w

o one will come

ll come t